Sure, and that's why I don't think modern general-purpose programming languages like Python are a particularly good substitute for the BASICs of old as a default environment.

If the idea is to encourage kids to learn more about the technology they're using, one of the most basic requirements is a safe system they can use without any danger of causing serious damage.

And there's a limit on your ability to destroy stuff if you're not running as root.

That assumes your system has a concept of root, which in turn assumes your system has a concept of users at all and a robust security model. I'm not sure any of those things is necessary, or even desirable, for the kind of system we're thinking about here. I think the correct requirement is "User can not cause any permanent damage", and if things like Linux or Windows or Python or Ruby can't meet that requirement, then they simply aren't the tools we're looking for in this particular context.