Yes, this lost boy was a tragedy, especially for the parents, but I concur with the other former Boy Scouts on here - at 10, I could MAYBE start a fire, with a lot of matches and under perfect conditions, and carrying a whistle in the woods was something sissies did.
More sobering to me was the experiment I tried a few weeks ago with my girls, 13 and 10, to get them to light a decorative candle we’d bought with a disposable lighter. I showed them how, and then let each of them try it … for about 15 minutes each. The youngest one finally got the hang of it, sort of, but that got me to thinking – how many kids that age, even if they have matches or a lighter in a survival situation, are going to know how to use them. Needless to say, some “training sessions” are on the agenda!