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Risky Child Behaviors
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| Yes | 26% | 238 votes | Total: 928 votes | |
| No | 74% | 690 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThe responsibilities of parents include protecting their children from the dangers of the world. The older children become the less protection they need and the less often parents have to be on the lookout for danger; however, all parents continue to be wary about giving their children too much space to explore the world. For example, children are very responsive to loud and bright objects; therefore, once they learn not to fear the loud bang, most children are attracted to fireworks and they naturally want to use them. On the other hand, fireworks are dangerous, so it is imperative that parents question if and when their children should use fireworks.
Age is generally an indicator of when children are ready to play with things like fireworks, but it is their ability to use the products and their ability to be responsible that determines if they should use fireworks. Furthermore, all sorts of firecrackers exist for children to play with, but these less dangerous objects need to be restricted as well because they can also hurt people. First of all, parents should always watch their children when they use firecracker; second, they must always be the ones managing the fire needed to light the firecrackers while younger children need to be shown how to handle and use the items correctly. Meanwhile, parents need to teach their children safety rules, reinforce those rules while using the firecrackers, and rule by example; otherwise, the children cannot be involved in the light, sound, and smoke display. Furthermore, kids, who are not capable of listening to their parents' immediate instructions, should not be allowed to use any dangerous objects without a hands on approach until they learn to listen.
As for older children, so long as they are responsible and aware of how to safely use fireworks, they can be freer to use more explosive, dangerous devices. Teenagers, who are older and able to make fairly good judgment calls, probably can be allowed to use firecrackers on their own and possibly be allowed to help launch fireworks. Fireworks require a certain degree of professional skill to ensure they are used safely and if a fire emerges, the user needs to be ready to react. Under trained adult supervision, older children are perfectly capable of exercising responsible behavior without putting theirs or others' safety at risk. Above all, children or adults also need to be properly trained under the proper supervision before they shoot off any kind of fireworks.
Learn more about this author, Matthew J. Geiger.
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No
Fireworks are explosive pyrotechnic devices used by professionals in things like Fourth of July celebrations. Even untrained adults shouldn't be using these. I read stories of firemen who had to put out a fires of destroyed houses because some yokel packed it full of fireworks. Just look at the word. Fireworks. Yes, fire works. It works very well. Fire and children do not mix well.
I believe the question probably wanted to include commercially-availab le firecrackers as well as fireworks. Firecrackers are also dangerous. Children are careless and lack common sense. Even with adult supervision, things can go wrong. An adult can only do so much with more than a few kids playing with firecrackers. Some kids might sneak away with some firecrackers or simply ignore adults and do whatever they want. Adults can't prevent all accidents like a cherry bomb exploding prematurely or burns from trying to light a firecracker. A bottle rocket can veer off course and into a person.
This is a little off topic, but at a gun show recently, some 8-year old child was allowed to shoot an UZI, which is a submachine gun. Even with adult supervision, the child didn't expect the recoil and lost control of the gun shooting himself in the head. The poor child died. It was a tragedy that could have been avoided. Why give a child something that is very dangerous? A lot of things can go wrong and kids do not have the maturity to handle it.
Moreover, some kids are really bad seeds. They use firecrackers for mischief. They are the types that would fire a bottle rocket at strangers just to get a reaction. They don't think people can get hurt and will do it thinking it is funny. People can get hurt by some child's recklessness. You don't want some kid to leave a cherry bomb at your door and then ring your door bell. Some others can put a firecracker in another kid's backpack. There are so many dangerous pranks kids can do with firecrackers.
Firewor ks are fun to watch and can be enjoyed by family. There is no need to endanger children to them because it would be fun. You can wait until they are older before letting them play with firecrackers. Don't let fun become a tragedy. Hospitals have enough problems and don't need to see poor children hurt by recklessness and foolhardiness. So keep your children safe and do the fireworks yourself instead of putting a kid in harm's way. Enjoy yourselves. This is all for now. Good-bye.
Learn more about this author, Fred Jung.
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