I'd make him gather up all of his stuff, and make him light it on fire and watch it burn. But, that's if I were the parent, because then I wouldn't buy replacement items either - he'd have to earn money via really hard chores and other things, and the process would be slooooooow, since at least half of all his earnings would be donated to the relief funds, with a personal apology letter written to each family affected (whether they were just evacuated or suffered damages). The little brat would be rebuilding his/her own life for a looooooong time.

I'm sure some folks would think that's cruel though.

If I were the authority, I'd drag the parents into court, and make them pay into the relief fund and community service. Which, in turn, I would hope encourage the parents to do exactly what I just posted.

But if the parents have to work extra hours in order to pay damages, doesn't that leave their kid that much less attended to?

The kid should just get a stern talking. That is all he needs.

Seriously, there is only so much one can do to punish the kid. They have not released his age, but since he was playing with matches, I would venture to guess he was under 12. Harsh punishment (such as Juvenile Hall) would only damage the kid and serve no positive function to society as a whole (it would probably only create another lifetime criminal). However, there are things that could be done to punish the boy and teach him the severity of his crime. If it were up to me, taking the kid to some of the homes that were burned up and talking to people who lost all of their possessions would be one thing that comes to mind (pre-screened people who wouldn't yell at the kid - just highlight how this tragedy affected their lives and discuss some of the things they lost).

The parents are, I believe, technically liable, both criminally and civilly for the fire (including the cost to fight it and property loss).

In the spirit of Halloween, they should remove his fingers so he can never play with matches again.












I'm joking, of course.
:D

They are... I'm just pointing out how silly that is, since we all know that the entirety of their families fortunes cannot account for a drop in the bucket of the actual costs incurred, and that financially devastating the family, while it may feel good and just to the fire victims, will serve no useful purpose other than to make it that much harder for the child to receive the supervision he obviously requires.

But I can't suggest we change the system either, because the last thing we need is a world in which parents feel they can let their kids run wild with no consequences.

... oops, too late.

The Griffith Park fire was started by teens playing with lighters.

No charges were filed.

I suppose a lot would depend on the exact circumstances. Who among us has played with matches at some point? I know I have and I know my kids have. It's fairly normal for a kid to play with matches.

It's just that most kids don't start fires that burn down multiple dwellings. So what really happened? Did the kid see the other fires on TV and say WOW that looks cool, followed by running into the brush and setting a dozen different bushes on fire?

Or did the kid just sneak out behind the house to light a match or two and things got horribly out of hand? It's easy for a kid to think that once they blow out a match, it's out and not to know what can happen if you toss that extinguished match into some dry brush.....

In that case I can't even imagine being the kid or the family involved. They must be horribly distraught, and I'd probably handle it much the same way they handled the father who left his baby in the car by mistake (he never usually dropped the kid off at daycare, so he completely forgot the sleeping kid was in there and just drove to work) and the kid died - the guy was so destroyed by what he had done, no punishment from the gov't was needed.

Ok, being less harsh, at a bare minimum, I'd make the kid personally hand all his belongings to the fire victims to replace a bit of what they lost. He needs to experience the loss for himself.

Actually, I liked the idea of burning the kid's belongings. I know that sounds weird in light of my other comments, but in that case, the punishment fits the crime.