Whatever happened to just toilet papering the principals house? | Page 2 | The Compost Bin | Forums

.yeah...I mean if they didn't get the concept of 'fire being a stupid idea' then IMO it's not about what they thought, it's about them lacking reasonable judgment and disregard for other's safety and property

Like I said, I'm not defending them in any way.  But, I don't think teenagers generally have reasonable judgement.  I don't think they can comprehend long term consequences (generally speaking).  I know when I was 16-18 I did a LOT of stupid stuff.  Thank god, no one was hurt.  But things could have easily gone the other way.  In this situation, the story I heard was the trash can was away from the house.  The fire actually crossed a concrete sidewalk before setting the house on fire.  Even as an adult, I'm not sure I could have envisioned that happening.

I agree ET...I did some very stupid things...but it was beat into my butt by my father to respect other peoples property...these kids may not have had the same values passed on to them. 

I think the teens are lucky to be alive.  There are a lot of people that would not tolerate a group of teenagers setting something on fire in front of their house.  It's a good way to get shot.

In some ways I feared my father before I respected him...I don't mean that in a bad way; it was very clear in our house what would happen if you did stupid stuff.

Yup, I still did stupid things.  I gotta say, not even close to what these chuckle heads did. The level of stupid has evolved a lot over the past 40 years.  Intentional or not...they burned down a home...I think there should be some severe consequences for the kids.