Ohio tragedy reminder of teenage dangers

It's an all-too-common story, but few fatal accidents involving teens are as horrific as the one Sunday morning in a small town near Youngstown, Ohio.

A 19-year-old woman was driving an SUV -- taken without permission -- at a "high rate of speed" when it struck a guardrail and flipped over into a swampy pond.

Two boys were able to get out of the vehicle and run a quarter mile for help. Five teens were trapped in the vehicle and drowned, another was thrown from the vehicle and found underneath it when it was pulled from the swamp.

Emergency medical personnel tried for hours to save some of the children, sometimes possible because they had been thrown into cold water, triggering a physical survival response. They were unsuccessful this time, however.

The Warren, Ohio, school several of the teens attended was providing counseling Sunday night.

Most tragic teen joyrides don't take so many young lives, but nearly every high school has shared Warren's pain. Rarely do prom and graduation seasons pass without new stories of risky teenage behavior resulting in the loss of life.

It's difficult to strike a balance between providing teens the freedom to make choices and keeping them safe from the foolish choices teenagers make.

An organized graduation party, with prizes and activities for graduates, is a welcome tradition for McCook High School, one that parents in other schools would do well to emulate.

For the most part, however, parents have to hope and pray the effort they've put into raising their teens carries them through safely to their 20s and 30s.