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Saw this today at the local farmers market. This market is held next to the railroad tracks in town.

This mother was letting her two little girls run around on the tracks while she was looking thru her diaper bag and preoccupid with other stuff. The girls, around 3 and 5 were getting really far from her and right on the tracks. The youngest was a good several yards away.

These are active tracks. Trains go up and down them all day. Both of these girls could've been killed if a train came thru.

Some people really shouldn't breed!

ETA: My phone left off the "f" in "far"

[This message edited by jrc1963 at 11:10 AM, April 27th (Saturday)]

Was there a train? Are there gates and signals indicating a train is coming? Are weekends, as they are here, times when train traffic is halted or significantly slowed? Is it possible she is fully aware of the train schedule?

I guess I'm not seeing how children "several yards" away, in the absence of present danger, translates to unsuitability for breeding.

I guess your 3 year old would listen to you call her/him back if a train came along.

Was there a train? Not while I was standing there.

Are there gates and signals indicating a train is coming? Not in the area of the tracks where we were... this far from any roads, so no signals visible/audible.

Are weekends, as they are here, times when train traffic is halted or significantly slowed? Neither slowed or halted... this is the only tracks in our area... CSX (fright) and Amtrack both use these tracks... approx 12 trains a day.

Is it possible she is fully aware of the train schedule? Well, from my vantage point she wasn't fully aware of anything except her cell phone and diaper bag. - but hey, I guess she could be aware of every fright train and Amtrack trains schedule.

She had three children, an infant in a car seat/stroller and the two older girls... maybe her goal was population control. One less child to look after.

All I can say is this girl, about 3, wasn't even within shouting distance and was smack in the middle of the tracks. I guess you don't see a problem gambling on a massive train coming down the tracks and turning a child into a human pancake. Me, I think it's an issue. But then, I love my child.

Things like that always amaze me. I am a complete nutcase when it comes to my kids safety. I think some of it boils down to that "it can't happen to me" mentality some people have. Too much crap has happened to me, so I am extra cautious. I also used to read a lot of news and the number one question is always where were the parents at...I am getting a little better with the older one, but you just never know. Why risk it?

Something that happened to be recently, that was more of a nuisance than anything:

Was in a doctor's office, a couple of women were talking to each other. Their kids (probably around 3 and 5) started chasing each other around the chairs, and they started to get real loud, like screaming laughing. Well, instead of the moms telling their kids to be quiet THEY started talking louder, so they could hear each other.

So we have these screaming kids and their loud talking parents. Thank God someone finally came out and told them to settle their kids down.

The train tracks maybe weren't a threat right then. However, what is this teaching the children? This mom is setting a precedent. That it is okay to play on the train tracks. IMO, it is never okay to play on train tracks.

It is like people who allow their children to jump on their couches. The children don't understand that some people don't like children/people jumping on their couch and the children are confused when they are asked to stop jumping on the couch.

I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was just completely overwhelmed and having a really bad day, dealing with a trauma or something. You really never know.

Another option might have been to walk over to her and gently say, 'Your babies are playing on the tracks and I'm afraid they're not safe. Do you need some help with something so you can go grab them?'

I'm not saying she was being the most responsible parent in the world. I'm just saying that you never know what's going on in someone's life and kindness usually goes further than judgment.

AN... you make a very good point.

And I will keep that in mind the next time I see something to that effect happening.