Stanwood Child Attempts to Burn Down Family Home
After being locked in a room by his mother for unruly behavior, a five-year-old boy used matches to ignite a fire that nearly destroyed the family's restaurant apartment.
Just because his mother punished him for unruliness, a 5-year-old boy of Stanwood attempted to cremate himself and all his people with him a few days ago. Luckily the youthful offender's plans were thwarted. The boy lived with his parents over a restaurant in the main part of town. As a punishment for some little offense, his mother locked him in a room by himself and left him there for some hours, during which time, with the aid of a few matches, the youngster succeeded in starting a blaze which, but for timely discovery, would have destroyed the house and all its contents.
“Just because his mother punished him for unruliness, a 5-year-old boy of Stanwood attempted to cremate himself and all his people.”
This report highlights a stark, mid-Edwardian attitude toward child discipline, framing the incident as a malicious act of a 'youthful offender' rather than a desperate response from a frightened, locked child. It serves as a reminder of how different our contemporary understanding of child development and family trauma has become.
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