It does depend on the culture and the severity of a situation. My dad was working and my mom was asleep when I (six) and my brother (four) burned the apartment down. It's so easy for a child to do something profoundly stupid especially if the parents don't pay attention to the warning signs (my brother and I already had a habit of setting things on fire). Our family was not particularly close with many of our neighbors. I only know of one who risked his life to run into the smokey haze to try to find my brother before the heat got to him.

It's possible Marlene has been taught better and is more responsible. It's possible that the locals would stop at nothing to save her if some accident occurred. It's possible. But it's not an excuse. I don't know how kids are raised in American slums. I'm not even sure where they are. The closest I've ever been to living in a slum were rundown apartment complexes swarming with insects and heavy drinkers on the "wrong" side of town. It may not be my place to choose whether to condone leaving a four-year-old home alone... I just don't. No exceptions.