Playing With Fire
How to recognize and help a child with a problem
Education from an expert—Volunteer fireman Scott Weber of Trexlertown Fire Company teaches a course to help juvenile firesetters understand the dangers and consequences of their actions. For more on the course or Weber (who won a Burn Prevention Foundation Spirit of Courage award), call 610-402-CARE or click here.
A dancing candle flame can fascinate a child—but when fascination becomes obsession, the results can be catastrophic. Children can and do become habitual firesetters. In fact, arson is the felony with the highest rate of juvenile involvement.
Four out of five young firesetters are boys. “We don’t know why that’s the case, but we do know that the first step in getting a child help is understanding why he sets fires,” says Kathy Ray, the Burn Prevention Foundation’s prevention education director. Treatment includes education and sometimes counseling, depending on the child’s category:
- Curious firesetter is typically a 3- to 7-year-old who learns by touching. Using a lighter or matches, he sets spontaneous, hidden fires and tries to extinguish them.
- Crisis firesetter is typically a 5- to 10-year-old who’s shy, anxious or worried. He sets fires following a stressful incident for the purpose of attracting attention.
- Delinquent firesetter, typically age 10-17, is influenced by peers and opposes authority. He sets fires with a group and often uses accelerants.
- Pathological firesetter is usually an 8- to 12-year-old boy with a history of medical or neurological problems, who has serious issues with family and/or peer relationships and is often the victim of abuse. He sets numerous planned fires designed to avoid detection. Only 2-3 percent of firesetters fall into this category.
Clearly, firesetting can be a symptom of an underlying emotional problem. “If a child sets fires repeatedly, it may be a sign of attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder, or it can result from a traumatic incident like divorce, abuse, or school or relationship stress,” says adolescent psychiatrist Dhanalakshmi Ramasamy, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. Counseling uncovers the problem and helps the child overcome it.
Whether or not your child shows an interest in fire, it’s wise to keep matches, lighters and candles out of reach, teach the dangers of fire beginning at age 3, set firm rules and supervise children’s activities.
Want to Know More about what to do for a suspected firesetter? For information or to connect with the Burn Prevention Foundation call 610-402-CARE.
Published from Healthy You Magazine, November-December 2008
This page last updated 10/23/08 01:48 PM
