In Their Own Words

When he was 8-years-old, Domingo blew his thumb off with an M-100; today, at 16, he worries about his little sister's fascination with fire. Amy, 16, was arrested for setting fire to her father's apartment building; she works part-time for a graphic design firm in order to pay off the $11,000 in damages she owes. At 14, Jason has already done time as a convicted felon for arson; among his other losses, Jason will never--due to the felony conviction--be able to serve in the armed forces. In Their Own Words interweaves interviews with three teens whose lives have all been marked by fire. Ostensibly aimed at stopping potential juvenile firesetters, the program features the same pristine production values of other award-winning productions on fire safety from The Idea Bank, but many of the comments from the kids sound canned (whether they are or not) and the combination of a profile about a kid who's had an accident (self-destruction) and two kids who have set fires (property destruction, endangering others) strike me as completely unrelated. I'm not convinced that there's enough information presented here to deter kids from setting fires. Optional. Aud: I, J, H, P. (R. Pitman)