Community Corner

Cameron Vennard: A Life, Not a 'Life Lesson'

The following is a Letter to the Editor from Annabel Dolan, who graduated with Cameron Vennard from Nipher Middle School.

On all the news sites, when you see articles about , all the comments talk about lessons to be learned, and how kids should pay more attention, and that parents need to teach their kids to be smarter about electronics and common sense. Do you really think this is what we want to be hearing right now?

Our community of peers and friends has lost someone extremely dear to our hearts, and instead of sharing in our grief, adults around us use this as a time to scold teenagers. No one is to blame for what happened. It was a tragic accident. Could it have been prevented? Possibly, but not in the sense that good life lessons should be learned.

Just in his death, my friends and I were given a striking reminder of what we were taught in elementary school but hasn't been discussed since then, that walking the tracks, although a part of our life, is extremely dangerous. We know that.

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Right now, as the news is really beginning to sink in, we want a chance to grieve and remember all the good things in Cam's life, not the one thing the media is focused on. It’s extremely upsetting to me that just days after losing someone who was a friend to all of us, and at such a young age, he, and in turn we, are being reprimanded. Please, just let Cam, his memory, and all his mourners, rest in peace.

Letter submitted by Annabel Dolan, who graduated with Cameron Vennard from Nipher Middle School.

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