A woman let a 9-year-old behind the wheel, and the result was predictably bad.

In San Antonio, Texas, WOAI reports 25-year-old Ladeja Pickett was decorating for Christmas when police stated she needed to move her car out of the way.

That’s when she asked a 9-year-old girl in the neighborhood to assist her.

Surveillance footage shows Pickett’s car driving in reverse and smashing into a nearby truck parked in a neighbor’s driveway. WOAI posted the camera footage to YouTube. Panicked screams could be heard as the crash happened.

Pickett faces charges of child endangerment and injury to a child.

The 9-year-old went to the hospital and was treated for a laceration to the forehead, road rash on one leg, and other unspecified injuries.

Needless to say, Pickett’s decision was reckless, dangerous, and stupid. Children need to be exposed to the world. They need to play and take falls and learn that life will not always be easy, but this is flat-out idiocy.

Pickett was likely not trying to teach a child anything about responsibility or helping others. She was probably being lazy and hoped nothing would go wrong by putting a young person in a vehicle alone.

The other end of the spectrum poses risks as well.

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, children 8-18 spend an average of 7 1/2 hours watching or using a screen per day.

That is essentially a full-time job without any physical stimulation and probably very little intellectual enrichment.

Certainly, physical play and life lessons through taking responsibility and helping others have not lost merit.

But that comes through helping an adult bring in the groceries, doing chores, folding laundry, or walking the dog.

Getting behind the wheel of a car at 9? Not so much.

We can only pray this child is safe and sound under the watchful eye of her parents after this incident. Those same parents should have been diligent enough to keep their child from danger and buffoonery — Pickett’s offer that day.

She made a poor decision that could have ended worse.

She is incredibly lucky it did not.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.