It says a ride, not a drive. I'm guessing he didn't let the kid drive it. I've let a few people drive my car. Pretty much all of them drove it with SRM off
No burning clutch allowed - you can have plenty of fun and still smoke the tires without riding the clutch.
I'm about to let a family friend (17 yo) learn how to drive manual on my Z once it gets back from the shop. I am waiting to install the Stage 2 clutch kit and leaving in the stock clutch (100K miles on it) for him to practice with. We will be on a closed course and in parking lots for safety.