Train hits and kills teenager in Ripley

The tracks were not gated. This is really starting to have an all too familiar ring... And yes, the comments will come now to the effect of watch where you are going, blah blah blah, all of that stuff, but c'mon, gate the stupid tracks.. my sympathies to the family of the deceased teenager.

My condolences to the family. Yes, Observer, you are right here come the comments. Does anyone really think that gates will stop individuals, who are walking, from trying to beat the trains. Heck, gates don't stop cars many times. THE LIGHTS WERE FLASHING. THAT MEANS STOP, TRAIN APPROACHING. THAT SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR ANYONE.
The real "all to familiar ring" is the fact that someone with a whole life ahead of him paid the ultimate price for doing the wrong thing.

It's terrible he was killed, condolences to the family. But what excuse could there be for being in front of a moving train? They are very loud, and have lights and horns. Is it possible these kids were train dodging? Is a game lots of kids play, stand on the tracks till the last second and then jump out of the way, kind of a deadly game of chicken.

If you play with fire, you get burned. There is no where in this country that requires teenagers to walk the railroad tracks in order to get there. Train dodging? maybe. Bad decision. Probably.
But it doesn't matter. The burden also has to be put on the parents. That is not done enough these days.
-Shooting at school, its the schools fault.
-Teenager evades police and dies in car crash, blame the police officers.
-Teenager hit by train, there should be a fence up.

I hear that type of thing all the time. The accountability needs to be put more heavily on the parents. But now a days most parents just let thier kids walk all over them. Sad.

John wrote:

If you play with fire, you get burned. There is no where in this country that requires teenagers to walk the railroad tracks in order to get there. Train dodging? maybe. Bad decision. Probably.
But it doesn't matter. The burden also has to be put on the parents. That is not done enough these days.
-Shooting at school, its the schools fault.
-Teenager evades police and dies in car crash, blame the police officers.
-Teenager hit by train, there should be a fence up.
I hear that type of thing all the time. The accountability needs to be put more heavily on the parents. But now a days most parents just let thier kids walk all over them. Sad.

John, you are absolutely, unequivocally right, but the laws of New York State make it nearly impossible to raise children properly today. Some examples follow: you lay a hand on your kid, for discipline, and you go to jail, you ground your kid or take priviledges away and you're liable to be charged with mental/emotional abuse, etc.

Man With No Name wrote:

<quoted text>
John, you are absolutely, unequivocally right, but the laws of New York State make it nearly impossible to raise children properly today. Some examples follow: you lay a hand on your kid, for discipline, and you go to jail, you ground your kid or take priviledges away and you're liable to be charged with mental/emotional abuse, etc.

Not sure I am totally in agreement with your statement describing the complete over-sensitivity of the laws towards the children. And I am not talking about discipline ONLY. If you raise them with no responsibility, they turn into delinquents. This may sound corny, but your kid is a blank slate. And besides some minor influence from his friends and the outside world, the parent makes the most impact in a kids life.

I lived in NY state. It's not much different here.

John B wrote:

<quoted text>
Not sure I am totally in agreement with your statement describing the complete over-sensitivity of the laws towards the children. And I am not talking about discipline ONLY. If you raise them with no responsibility, they turn into delinquents. This may sound corny, but your kid is a blank slate. And besides some minor influence from his friends and the outside world, the parent makes the most impact in a kids life.

I think we mostly agree, but don't underestimate the influences of friends, schools, the media (especially T.V., movies and music), laws, human nature, and the Devil.

Man With No Name wrote:

<quoted text>
I think we mostly agree, but don't underestimate the influences of friends, schools, the media (especially T.V., movies and music), laws, human nature, and the Devil.

Agreed - those influences are important. But if they out number the influences on a daily basis by the parent. Than something in that household is wrong.

Its the same mentality when people think watching the Coyote dropping an anvil on the Roadrunner makes children violent. Or Tom always trying to violently hurt Jerry is making our kids act out against people. Or if by playing a violent video game, kids will act out against people the way they do in the game.

These people are morons. morons!

I watched those cartoons and things growing up. To excess, probably... ha ha

I never once dropped a anvil on a school mate. Never became violent or acted violent after watching.

BECAUSE I WAS RAISED BY GOOD PARENTS.

Will people ever learn to stay away from trains? They are much bigger, heavier and traveling faster than they appear. My prayers go out to the teenager's family. I hope the rest of the teens have learned their lesson.

I live in Ripley just down the road from from those tracks. I always see kids running when they see the train signal so they don't have to wait for it to get where they are going. Down on maple ave they have gates on the tracks but that doesn't make any difference for them they just duck under them. They are in a hurry to get no where.

I was an engineer on the train behind the accident. It has 2 be one of the most feared senario we face every day. I sends a chill every time i hear it on the radio. And yes it happens ALOT! Stay away from trains! There is no excuse to be around them, or get hit! How do you think the train crew feels. Yes we hear it and feel it!!

I was an engineer on the train behind the accident. STAY AWAY from trains. There is no excuse to be around them. How do u think the train crew feels? Yes we can hear it and feel it! We deal with gate runners and kids playin on the tracks. STAY AWAY.

Another tragic end to a young person's life.
Condolances to his family and friends.

John B wrote:

Its the same mentality when people think watching the Coyote dropping an anvil on the Roadrunner makes children violent. Or Tom always trying to violently hurt Jerry is making our kids act out against people. Or if by playing a violent video game, kids will act out against people the way they do in the game.
These people are morons. morons!
I watched those cartoons and things growing up. To excess, probably... ha ha
I never once dropped a anvil on a school mate. Never became violent or acted violent after watching.
BECAUSE I WAS RAISED BY GOOD PARENTS.

Me too! I watched all the violent and politically incorrect cartoons and thoroughly enjoyed them as a kid. However, I have never gotten into a fight, hurt or killed anyone, and never used insensitive gender or race based epithets on people. My parents raised me correctly, but that was decades ago when the nanny state wasn't trying to dictate every nuance of how people lived and raised their children.

you people have no sympathy. So what if they were doing what they were doing... leave that to your self. If you have nothing good to say than dont say anything at all wow!!!!! You people seriosly i know the young boy.

I certainly want to extend my Sympathy to the family and friends. What bothers me is that the lights and bells are there for a reason. To many people try to dismay the reason and think they can beat a train. It's time people do use caution and obey the lights as they are there for a reason. A changing traffic light at an intersection is no different. Most drivers speed up on a yellow or red and try to "beat" the intersection. And of course there are no Crossing Gates at those traffic intersections. It's time we all slow down a little and remember the reason warning signals are in place. Our society is to much in a rush these days!

Shaggs wrote:

Did the train derail off the tracks and hit the kid? NO!!! The train was on the tracks and the kid was too, the way I see it the train just weeded out the gene pool. Hopefully this kid didn't have the chance to reproduce before this occured!

You are an ***hole! Sometimes kids make mistakes, and unfortunately, sometimes they pay the ultimate price. The world would be lucky if you met a similar fate. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. Horrible tragedy.

Whenever I see these sad stories, I am always disturbed by the portrayal of the train as the "killer." Unfortunately, it was the boy's poor judgment that killed him. Perhaps if the media stopped saying that the train was the killer (as they would someone who intentionally took the life of another) people would be more cautious around trains and these tragedies could be prevented.