Tragedy in Barnesville

[DONNI3YEAGS]

I was in Bowling Green this weekend when my wife went to the Times Leader's website and told me the unfortunate news of the death of two Barnesville students, R.J. Baker and Clayton Rebecca-Hall.

http://timesleaderonline.com/page/content.detail/id/519093.html?nav=5010

My prayers are with these young men's families as well as their friends, as well as with survivor James Lucas Jr. My prayers are also with Barnesville AD Mark Cook, who is a class guy and surely upset about this as well as Barnesville Football and Wrestling coach Luke Johnson, who coached both of these young men. Luke cares about his players and I am sure he is struggling with this.
The following is a link to an article by Seth Staskey of the Times Leader:

http://timesleaderonline.com/page/content.detail/id/519110.html?nav=5010

It is a well written piece. I hope Dalton Smith either wears Bakers' number prominently on his helmet, or for the game to honor his fallen teammate for the OVAC all-star game.
This was a completely avoidable tragedy. Parents just kiss your kids and give them an extra squeeze tonight and please please remind them of the importance of seatbelts.

[BrianGossett]

Damn. I really need to start wearing my seatbelt on a regular basis.

[cton]

anytime this happens to young kids, I get an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach....the reason why: other than the obvious feelings of grief and condolences for the family and friends, it is because I remember all the stupid things we did as kids at this same age. we felt invincible, we would live forever, and nothing bad could happen to us.

the moral can have many facets, here are but a few:

a) give your kids a hug, make sure they know you love them every day

b) if you dont think your kids are doing stupid stuff that could harm them, you are deluding yourself...I am not saying these boys were doing anything different than any other group of kids, or even any different than me and my buddies might have been doing for that matter....the point is, talk to your kids...communicate with them and let them know that tragedies like this can and do happen. ask them to just pause and think before they do something that might be dangerous....ask them to think for themselves, and dont buy into a group mentality that allows everyone in the group to feel like they have to do something to be accepted...

c)repeat step a) from above...if you hugged your kid and told them you loved them this morning, do it again tonight.

hopefully some kid will read or hear about this accident, and it will make them think twice about doing something that might jeopardize their life. If that happens, if just one kid avoids doing something that might do them some harm, even if they just think about it and are more careful, then R.J. and Clayton deaths might have some positive effect. I pray that the family and friends of these two young men grasp this hope as well and get some small measure of comfort from it.

[John_Rambo]

wow this is terrible news.... prayers to all the barnesville community

[sonofsam]

Very sad... Prayers to the families.

[Pick6]

very sad situation that seems to happen way too much in the ohio valley.

[ferflog]

Was speed a factor?? Prayers from Cambridge.

[RES874]

cton,thanks very good peice.Prayers to all involved.

Sad very sad

[Ironmike]

1. Make your kids their wear seatbelts at all times. They must learn this when they are infants.

2. If you call or text them, they have 10 minutes to get to a spot where they can pull over and text you back or they lose their car keys and i-phone for two weeks. No exceptions.

3. Nothing good happens after midnight. Give them a firm curfew and do not fall asleep until all of your kids are home.

The above is not easy, but give the kids a chance to stay alive until their brains mature.

Iron mike

[cas8043]

Great tips.

[DONNI3YEAGS]

Yeah, nice tips.

[DONNI3YEAGS]

very sad situation that seems to happen way too much in the ohio valley.

Yes, between the losses of Arborgast and Faulkenstein in athletics as well as other kids, whose names sadly I don't remember, Beallsville has lost way too many youth to car crashes.
Zach Tolzda still wears 11 to this day at OUE for Jordan.

[gocolts]

Was speed a factor?? Prayers from Cambridge.

-Not sure if speed played a big part...but, the 2 in front were thrown from the vehicle. The kid that survived was in the back and he was also the only wearing a seat belt. I'm also hearing that alcohol, sadly, is a factor as well. Tragic.

[zdad]

Prayers to both families. Also, remember the young man who survived. This will be with him the rest of his life. Keep him in your prayers.