Posted on 10/02/2019 5:44:05 AM PDT by eccentric
My 8-year-old grandson plays with fire. On Sunday he set a tree on fire. I have NOT found any local programs to deal with this issue. Nor have I found any videos to show to children with this problem. His mother (my DIL) isn't interested in discipline.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Have a bonfire and teach him the proper way to build one. Then do it regularly. The wow factor will fade as it becomes more regular. In turn he will have more of an affinity for the outdoors.
It will also be a bonding experience for the both of you.
Red flag them and confiscate their matches.
Sounds like a lost cause then. She'd better hope he doesn't burn down the house with her in it.
Sorry it’s not your place
My brother ( who is a nice guy) burned down two fences, a tree, and an old structure on abandoned lot before he was a teen
We always put him in charge of building bond fires. Couldn’t let him near the indoor fireplace cause he’d blow out the fire bricks
Not on someone else’s child
Pull of your leather belt and wear his ass out with it! That or plan on attending juvinal detention, court trails and parole hearings for the interim.
You jumped to lots of conclusions
You aren’t a psychiatrist and you really aren’t this child’s
Laws already exist that hold parents responsible for their child’s actions
I would think twice about that. Many states have made spanking against the law. Even a parent can get in trouble for spanking. That is part of the Left’s strategy. No discipline will create a generation of wild children. Another tentacle of the Left’s destruction of the family.
I worked with Court adjudicated youth for many years, and some were pyromaniacs.
It can be a serious affliction if not properly treated , especially after puberty when fire is twisted with psycho sexual issues. Some learn to be erotically aroused when they see fire, for example. Some males can later evolve to burn up their girlfriends, for example,lighting them up to achieve orgasm.
So if you know the half of it or even a third of it, such “play with fire” conduct should be treated immediately with the proper intervention,including proper discipline at the earliest.
Or you could be following the child around for the rest of your life with a bucket of water.
Lock him in the basement for a few days. Tell his teachers he went to Disneyland.
Their Father’s need to tan their behinds. 99% effective.
Worked on me.
I was a pyro from age three. With smoking being the norm it was hard to keep matches away from children. At age three, my mother burned the tip of my index finger on the stove to give me an understanding of burn pain ( it was a controlled burn). I’m sure I could sue her if she was still alive. I sort of became a more discerning pyro and later moved on to kerosene and then gasoline. Playing with gas I almost burned the house down. It scared me so much I put my matches away and moved onto torturing small animals (only kidding). There a a lot of good suggestions in the reply’s, the fear of pain and disfigurement worked for me. Now I have a smoke alarm in every room.
Last thing my wife said to me last night, that she is being killed (she has unexplained abdominal pain) by my compulsively provocative grandson with fetal cannabis induced, severe ADHD, who spends much of his waking day verbally provoking her. She is in need of adult protective services. She cannot handle him. He has to leave.
Burn ‘em.
“She cannot handle him. He has to leave.”
How old is he? If it’s a choice between him or you two, choose you. He’ll destroy — maybe kill — you and be a cancer on society forever.
Not to be harsh, but this is a very common thread among serial killers — fire fascination and/or pet abuse. As Barney Fife would say, “NIP IT!”
I have a nephew I worry about because of his treatment of animals. His mother got in my business when I mentioned the whole serial killer thing. Can’t imagine why. ;) But I fully expect their adult communications with him will be from behind a Plexiglass window.
I don’t think I was obsessed with fire as much as most boys at eight. I grew up on acreage. My dad put me in charge of burning the trash in the burn barrel by about that time. There wasn’t much packed in plastic back then; we took plastics and stuff that wouldn’t burn to the dump because it stank, and we composted left over food.
He also had me burn ant piles using gasoline and diesel oil. If he had a big pile of brush that he was burning, he had me keep an eye on that as well. I think that when something is a chore that you are assigned... it instantly becomes less fascinating. It is too bad there isn’t much constructive that kids can do these days with fire. I remember when my dad tried to get my sister to burn the trash when she was around 12, she cried and said she didn’t know how. My little brother and I thought that was hilarious.
“His mother isn’t interested in discipline.”
Torch something and blame him. I’m serious.
Discipline does not require one to beat a child
Saying some children are pyromaniacs does not make this child one
Plus if the grandparent is that concerned go to family court If it’s that bad they will get custody. Other than that it is not their place
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