The three teenage girls, along with a teenage boy, ignored "no trespassing" signs and walked out onto the railroad trestle Saturday evening in downtown Melbourne, a city of about 77,000 nearly 50 miles southeast of Orlando. Onlookers yelled for the teens to run or jump into the slow-moving water of Crane Creek 20 feet below as the train approached, but only the boy made it off the 200-foot span. The girls had less than 7 seconds to react.
We've read numerous emails sent to us and we've read hundreds of online comments from various sites about this tragedy. Remarks have ranged from outright sadness from young lives ending so suddenly and so tragically to unbelievably insensitive. Yes - they disregarded basic safety, yes - they didn't take their location to be a death-defying stunt. But teens are that way - they don't always pay attention and think they are invincible. It is up to us as adults to educate them - even to the point of monitoring their whereabouts.
It is sometimes in the face of an unfortunate
accident like this, we are goaded, motivated
and even enraged toward prevention....
Of all those in the Palm Bay and Melbourne area
who read this blog, there must be someone who
can take the mantle and initiate this.
The teenage girls were classmates at Southwest Middle School in Palm Bay, which has had its share of tragedies this school year. Another student at the school of more than 1,300 seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders recently committed suicide, and another pupil was electrocuted last year while putting up an antenna for a ham radio. The antenna fell on power lines, also killing two family members.
"It is a terrible accident that is going to have a profound impact on our community," Christine Davis, a spokeswoman for Brevard County Schools, said of the train accident. Grief counselors are available for students at the school.
All the teens have been identified, with the funerals to take place soon. We hope and pray healing can begin - for the families, the school, the community. It is the horror of horrors to learn a child has died - suddenly, tragically - even if they were being irresponsible; which does make their deaths harder to accept, as it could have been avoided. And this is not the first time someone has died because of a train in Melbourne. Another incident happened in May of 2009 when a young man was walking the trestle and killed.
It is sometimes in the face of an unfortunate accident like this, we are goaded, motivated and even enraged toward prevention. That's unfair for past victims, but in doing so we remember them and prevent a repeat of what has happened - their life wasn't in vain and neither will be their deaths. Jennifer, Ciara and Wraya deserved to live a long life, go to college, get married, but it wasn't to be.
The Editorial Staff at 360 Degrees calls on parents (as responsibility begins at home), local schools, law enforcement and even the railway system itself to mount an unprecedented educational campaign to illustrate the potential dangers and the horrors of getting anywhere near trains, their tracks and be safety conscious at rail crossings. We already have educational campaigns for teen drivers, now let's come full circle and discuss pedestrian safety and even exercising common sense. In not doing so will add to the current list of victims.
Of all those in the Palm Bay and Melbourne area who read this blog, there must be someone who can take the mantle and initiate this.
Make it happen, Melbourne.
The track is owned by the Florida East Coast Railway, which operates about 350 miles of track along the state's east coast. In a statement, the company said it was deeply saddened. It said the tragedy was a reminder that people need "to respect the dangers presented by railroad tracks and operations."
In closing, we remember not only the three teens and their male companion (who survived), their family and friends, but also the crew of the train. It is our hope they find peace in the midst of chaos.
360 Degrees
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment