I don't think any animal is really appropriate for children to begin with. Ultimately, it's the adult that has to take responsibility for the animal, and at least the adult has to know how to take care of it. Well, it's really just a matter of opinion, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect a child to take full responsibilty for an animal. None of this applies to anybody here, you all know how to take care of snakes, but try to imagine any random family with a kid who wants a snake. I've had plenty of pets in my youth that my parents knew absolutely nothing about, but of course you have to wonder if that was a good idea. I'm not convinced it was.
The ideal pet snake for a child is a big, aggressive rat snake. At least it won't end up like one of Lennie's mice.
