Car stunt puts youth near death

Outdoors - I would hope that parents would take the responsibility and in essence administer the pysch test. But kids will be kids. Wiskitty does a nice job of putting the issue in perspective. Even the most responsible 17 year old will make a bad decision.
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When I was 17 I turned the wheel over to a friend who did not have his license. Four of us were in my father's car. He passed a car on Highway 14 and lost control. We did a complete 360 at 75 mph, barely missing an oncoming car, a telephone pole, and a culvert as we hit the ditch. No one was wearing seat belts. That was thirty-five years ago. My bad decision nearly killed me and three other teenagers.
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I have empathy for Jason.

Nate is doing much better. He is off the meds and is responding to his family & friends, squeezing their hands. I've been listening & reading all these rummors and stories. Some of them are very nasty and vicious. Most if not all are not true. With respect to his parents, I am not going to respond to these. Don't believe everything you read. The family will tell the real story when they are ready. Just know he was not surfing. He and Jason did not deserve this. Right now all we ask is you respect the family, keep an open mind, don't judge till you all the true facts.

This has been an issue for several years. We live on Conde street or should I say Conde Speedway. This is where the kids for Lincoln and Edison cross everyday.I have called the police on drivers doing upwards of 50+ MPH in a 25MPH zone, but there hasn't been anything done.

I asked the city to place a stop sign, I even offered to pay for it, but they stated there wasn't a need. Also, they clearly stated that stop signs are not for speed control? Well what are they???

It takes tragic events to cause us to do something. I recently read that we have devalued and accepted every behavior as explainable and acceptable. NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS ANYMORE. If you do the crime, THEN DO THE TIME. I am so sick of everyone blaming someone else for their actions, your poor childhood, education level, low income situation, or race don't cut it.

Mooshoo, sorry I misunderstood. I will ask you, do you agree that by saying some/most 17 year olds are not mature enough to be considered adults that they should also not be able to drive. I firmly believe that driving the most deadly instrument out there is a huge responsibility (cars kill more than guns). How about this, take a pysc test, if your mature enough to drive then you are automatically an adult in the court system????

Outdoors - I should have stated my question more clearly. What I am really asking is: Should we change the law with respect to 17 year olds? Why not put 17 year olds back in Juvenile court with the option to waive them to adult court for really serious crimes?

Mooshoo--"I ask the question again: should we charge all 17 year olds as adults?" The answer is, yes it's the law. All 17 year olds that commit crimes are automatically considered adults, and I think it is a good idea. For those of you that think a 17 year old it too young to be held responsible then I would argue..DON'T GIVE THEM A LICENSE UNTIL 18. You can not have it both ways.

Well depending on the crime. And depending on the circumstances. As in this case no i dont feel any action should be taken. but there are other circumstances in which yes a person should be prosecuted for there actions. it all depends on the circumstances.

I ask the question again: should we charge all 17 year olds as adults? I think most of you who made comments would agree that Jason Klein in a moment of bravado made a bad mistake that critically injured his friend. His actions should not be taken lightly, but do they really warrant jail time?
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Intheloop points out that there are 19 juveniles presently in the jail. For argument sake, that probably is an average daily census of juveniles in the Rock County Jail. Pandow77 tells us it costs $60 dollars a day to house inmates. If you do the math, that is $416,100 a year to lock up kids.
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There are 4 reasons we put people in jail. They are to punish the offender, deter others from commiting the crime, rehabilitate the offender, and protect the public. Does anyone really think putting Jason in jail will accomplish any of those things?

well nathan is doing wonderfully. they are getting him off the meds and he has movement in hands, legs, mouth and doing well. still praying he comes around with no effects of a critically injured patient. it is still a long road and everyone is by his side and waiting to hear that he has made a remarkable recovery. we thank you for all the prayers and well wishes and will continue to give updates as they occur.

minu: Reporting the whole honor roll thing is probably their way of saying that these are generally good kids and not big trouble makers. It could also be a way of pointing out that this could happen to any kid and not just the troubled one's. It not smart vs. dumb. Even smart kids can make immature desicions. I was always on the honor roll and never caused any trouble but even I made some very immature decisions at that age.

intheloop: Yes, them knowing eachother is why we can have sympathy for them. That and the fact that this was a choice they both had made. Had it been a 17 year old injuring another teen who just happened to be walking by, I probably wouldn't have any sympathy for him at all and would probably agree to jail time.
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I don't believe that 17 year olds should have a "get out of jail free card". Most of the one's in jail probably deserve to be there. This incident just happened to be two teenagers playing around. They made a stupid choice to use a vehicle as a toy and one got hurt in the process. They weren't under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they didn't cause injury to any of the innocent bystanders (thank-god), and the way it sounds neither boy has been in trouble for anything like this before. Let's say that they weren't using a vehicle. Let's say that they were just out playing football, like all teenage boys do, and they got a little too rough and when one boy got tackled by the other his head hit the ground too hard and he suffered a concussion. Should the boy who tackled him be put in jail? Kids, and even adults, can get seriously injured playing football. Do we call them stupid because they play the game even though they have a chance of getting hurt? Does anyone get jail time for hurting someone else in the game?

So we want all 17 yr olds to have a get out of jail free card so we don't have an overcrowded jail? Well, there are fifteen 17 yr olds in the jail along with four 16 yr olds so I guess it would free up a little room until they were 18 and did the same stupid thing again since they didn't learn about being responsible for their own actions the first time. The only reason there is some sympathy for this one is because they know each other, if this 17 year old had injured someone like a innocent bystander he was not friends with while doing this stunt people would be singing a different tune.

also what does being on the honor role have anything to do with the article? like that automatically puts the kid into a different class or level of maturity? i was not aware getting an A in history class means you have common sense. give me a break, there are a lot of people who can do good on an exam, but dumb as a box of rocks.

i like the part where they talk about how "stunting" is when you do "stunts"...oh really?

seeing how people with a newspaper probably know how to read, and people reading this online can operate a computer, i would hope we would not need such condesending reporting.

Spedtke, Ship-man is correct...it is all part of growing up and being a kid. These kids aren't stupid per-se, they are just being kids and not mature yet. Kids make poor choices, some poorer than others. Do you not remember being a kid yourself and feeling like nothing would ever happen to you?? I certainly do! I made many poor choices and am very lucky to still be on this earth. Would I do those things now...of course not, I am an adult now. I watch my kids like a hawk hoping they don't do even half of what I did. The whole point is that kids make mistakes and sometimes someone gets hurt. It wasn't intentional, they just didn't think, weren't able to rationaloize, that something like this may happen to them. Kids always think things happen to others, but not them. It is that false sense of control and invincability that all kids have until they mature. From the picture of the driver, I can think he will regret this the rest of his life. I don't think these kids are criminals and I don't think jail time is going to make it all right. I am a nurse and I use reality therapy with my kids. I show them actual pics of what can happen from poor choices. It may sound crude but it gets the point across. Kids are kids and they always have and always will make some poor choices and yes some will get hurt and some will die. All we can realistically do sometimes is pray to God to watch over them. Maybe part of the problem is we are treeating kids as adults now days and really aren't ready for that yet. They need to be kids and treated as such and not be expected to instantly have common sense, they need to guided and taught, not be totally on their own.

Grumpyheart2002, thank you for keeping us up dated. Both me and my mom are praying that he pulls through this. I also agree with you on deleting the comments that are rude, because people can be mean and say mean things. But we all know that he is going to pull through this and live the live life that he was before the accident. Lots of love goes out to him and the family.

"Stupid is as stupid does"

- Forrest Gump

I wouldn't worry about overcrowded jails... I heard on the news the other night that Rock County is starting a program designed to send inmates home. It is going to start on July 7th, I believe, and they are going to start with approximately 20 inmates. The non-violent inmates will have a chance to apply for this program that lets them sit out their sentence at home. They will be required to do community service and will be able go to work so they can pay off their fines, child support, etc... I think they said that out of around 500 inmates they have 100 that would qualify for this program. They said that it would make room in the jail and also save the county a lot of money. I think they said that it takes around $60/day to house the inmates at the jail.
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To Spedtke: I guess you have never done anything stupid and reckless as a teenager. Either that or you are one of those hypocritical people who pretend like they have always been perfect little angels their entire lives. I know quite a few people who will never own up to some of the stuff they did growing up.

In the past, society gave youth a "kids license". It was a stupidity pass, or for lack of better term, a get out of jail free card. Police, judges, teachers, social workers and responsible adults would pull kids aside who pulled a dumb stunt and read them the riot act. Unfortunately those days are long gone. Under current law 17 year olds do not get a lecture, they are charged as adults. That is the law, and perhaps its is time for a change. We have an overcrowded jail.

Does anyone know how Nate is doing? Last thing I read from "grumpy" is that they were going to try to decrease his meds and see what progress and/or damage Nate has. I pray that he doesn't have any permanent problems.

umm ok, so i think that since you don't really know the situation "Spedke" you should really stay out of it.
thanx,
:]

From one Mercy Partner to another...get well soon!

"hoohock"?

Spedke - In a sense I agree with you. This situation underlies the concept that nature does find a way of weeding out the stupid. I should have been weeded out several times in my youth; however, the sad part of this is the fact that a teenager was severely hurt. So I would hope that a little compassion also plays a factor in your thoughts as well.

I think all of the "feel goody goody" attitude is why we have such problems with society today. Let the driver sit by his friend and watch the pain? What a load of excrement! Put the youth in jail. I bet dollars upon dollars that you won't see a stunt like this happen again if the kids realize that the consequences from their STUPIDITY result in REAL punishment, not this "I bet he FEELS bad enough" hoohock. So what if he has to live with this his whole life....he should have thought a lil' bit harder instead of acting on impulse and trying to impress his friends. All of this "touchy, warm fuzzy feeling" talk makes me wonder if children in Janesville have any concept of reality, or do they just "feel" that they are in the real world....WAKE UP PEOPLE.

Spedtke: You're right, you can't fix stupidity and you're living proof of that.
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I hope Nathan has a full recovery. And to Jason: We all have made mistakes in life and the best thing you can do is learn from this and move on. Best wishes to both of you.

This young man should be sitting by his buddy in the hospital. I hope he pulls through.Best wishes.

alright "janesville reader"
the kids who did see this happen remember have to deal with this for the rest of there lives, they don't need you telling them what they did is wrong, i'm sure you couldn't even function if you saw your friend fly off the hood of a car and not get up.

i don't get why you had to make jay look like a bad kid, i mean i know him he's a great kid, and good kids make bad choices,
he's beating himself up enough as it is,
he doesn't need strangers telling him about something they really know nothing about.

what exactly is news worthy zoom? its frickin hilarious when people say that.

I stand by my previous posts.....you can't fix stupidity, but your actions from being stupid can sure kill you.

It's newsworthy in the vain hope that other kids see the consequences through these 2 young men. Unfortunately, as we have read, kids have been doing stunts like this for years. We'll see something bad this summer on the roller coaster roads because kids don't have that feel for mortality we get as we "mature."
Parents ride with their kids and they obey speed limits, use their seat belts but peer pressure and the need for acceptance or maybe recognition is an amazing power when away from parental supervision.

I haven't read through all the comments, but I'm curious why this is news worthy, other than in a PSA type of way.

A friend of mine did almost the same thing when we were around 18. He actually fell off the front of the hood when the driver braked, and almost got run over. All he suffered were scratches though. Of course alcohol was involved...good times.

Agreed! And if you are that person who stands up and says....BE CAREFUL...you are labeled as a worrier as I am.....:o)

ship_man makes good points. This situation has to be understood from within and with reference to the emotions of teenage boys. It sounds like they were showing off to a group of kids, and in their minds I'm sure this was going to be fun and they'd be cool. There wasn't a lot of rational thinking going on, it's all emotion. I'd be interested in what was going on in the heads of those who walked away after the first stunt. They probably had a sense this could get bad and didn't want to be involved. But try to be the one who stands up and tells them to be careful, that's not an easy thing to do in a group of teenagers. It's easier to walk away and not see it if it goes bad (I'm not criticizing those kids). In no way will more things for kids to do keep them from being reckless with cars. If you want kids to stop being reckless with cars, then maybe you need to take away the privilege of driving. And probably all this would do would make them sneak around driving or just put off the reckless behavior a few years. Honestly, while most if not all kids do risky things, I'd guess that relatively few do something this risky.

Again, I can speak from experience. Over 24 years ago, I did the same thing and landed in the hospital briefly. It wasn't a matter of intelligence that made the decision to surf the car, it was a matter of thinking I could challenge myself to out do gravity and other risk taking thoughts. Most people know that the area of your brain responsible for logical thoughts past the intented action, isn't fully developed until around age 21. Boys are even more susceptable to this as we are risk takers especially at that age with a physical action. Let us be resonable with these two young boys, and not be so critical considering the circumstance.

Cocktail...I see where you are going with this, but I don't think that a car stunt classifies as natural selection. I would be willing to think that the dormant volcano that just erupted, the flooding that has been happening, the tsunami's in Asia that have been happening and other natural distasters would be natural selection, but not that of an immature teen.

SHIP_MAN! What a wonderful post. I wish all would understand that whatever we go through is a learning cycle, if you don't learn your lesson, you will repeat the lesson. Although all lesson's aren't the same, we all have had them, and who is anyone to judge one's lesson to another. I myself was in a youth group at my church when I was a teen, and guess what!! I drove my minister's car without a license. I did get caught and had to suffer the consequences, but you know what? I was in a group, and made a bad choice as well. Temptation, risks and lessons are all there for a reason! Some are more serious than others, that is what is sad.

I fell off a fast moving car when I was in high school pulling a stunt like this. I now have a science PhD, an MBA and a family. I understand what happened in that parking lot. And, no, this does not devalue honor society. Most in that group (I was) have stories like this to tell, though they hide it well. It is called growing up. And though not everyone has experiences like this, everyone does have memories of things they did that weren't so mature. I, for one, would not want to go through that again. For those who think social clubs or churches are the answer, they are only a piece of the fabric, and cannot stop this. My town was vastly larger, with many things to do. I was (and am) an avid church goer, and even attended a morning Bible study in the school. I still fell off that car. And to the person who knows where her children are all the time, don’t be so sure that is enough. My best friend left his daughter at a swim lesson in the high school. She was approached by two upper class girls with Cocaine. And that was this past weekend. The hopeful thing is that she did refuse.
My prayers go to the young men, their families and friends. To the young men, I say don’t forget this – that would waste the lessons. Don’t dwell on it either, as that leads to depression, insanity and worse. Make this a thread in the tapestry of your life. It is and will be a part of who you are – I still remember being terrified falling off that car, and it affects what I do now, more than thirty years on. I don’t judge you - that is left to the justice system. Accept the support of your friends and family as the most important thing right now, and know that most of us adults went through this in our own way. Best wishes.

I am just appalled at the uncaring people who have posted their comments on this site. Maybe the Gazette mentioned that this young boy was on the honor roll to show that even students who excel in school can make wrong choices. Instead of placing blame or treating this young man as if he was the only person to make a wrong choice, we all should be praying for him and his family. I was, even before I realized that my daughter who attends a different high school knows Nathan. She was truly upset this morning when she heard his name on the radio. I am sure there will be more kids praying for his recovery now, even those who didn't know him. I think our younger generation has more of a caring heart than some of the adults posting their comments.

Too bad even something as tragic as this can't make the bitter people have some compassion. You really need to find some peace or you are all going to die miserable human beings with a negative legacy!!

Life is about choices and sad but true when your a teenager you make some unwise decisions. Some are worse than others. His choice was to surf and the other boy's choice was to drive. Who's to blame? Neither one of them should have done what they did. It seems that a teenagers IQ drops 20 points when they are in a car together it may be more when it's two boys.

Why mention in the article about this boy being on the honor roll at Parker? Pulling a stunt like this sure diminishes that honor.

Just ANOTHER example to the Gazette, as to what SHOULD BE discussed & what SHOULDN'T!!! :(

PLEASE REMOVE THIS BOARD FOR THE FAMILIES INVOLVED....SERIOUSLY! (...My thoughts & prayers, as well as MANY others are w/ BOTH!....)

(Suggestion: Open up more of the SPORT blogs....that are NOT open for suggestion... :)

my heart goes out to the boys also, but the reality is that (and PLEASE don't misinterpret this to mean anything than the way it is intended) vehicles are powerful and if children are allowed the PRIVILEGE to drive, they must take responsibility for the consequences of their actions, whether they are intended or not.

There are laws about reckless driving for a reason. The punishments and consequences may not appear "fair" in this case, but life isn't always fair. Yes, it was an accident and neither of the boys saw this as a possible result. The same can be said of adults who drive drunk...they never intended to hurt anyone...it was an accident, etc. Does that reverse what happened? No. Nothing can reverse the clock and we can't go back to before it happened and do it differently-this time. Perhaps the next time kids are wanting to get crazy with a vehicle, they will remember what happened when Jason and Nathan were goofing around and acting like boys....

Please know that I understand how painful this must be for the families. I don't want to further cause pain. I just want kids to learn from this tragedy.

I work where Nathan works and he is a GREAT kid! I never would have met him and realized what a nice guy he is (he's very quiet) except I took care of a relative of his. I say a prayer everyday that he gets better and that Kim, Joe, Kathy and the rest of the family are doing all right and supporting each other. I had a child die from medial problems in his sleep and I could NEVER imagine watching my child suffer and be in pain and know I couldn't do anything about it.

Yes, doing this wasn't wise, but lets face it, how many of us did things as kids that we shouldn't have?? I'm 33 and I admit I did, but I learned from it. Hopefully this has opened a lot of kids eyes but I wish it wouldn't have taken this to have done it.

Grumpy-thank you very much for updating us on Nathan. Everyday I come to work I try to see how he is doing. I miss seeing him on the med floor on weekends when he would come up and I would say hi and ask him how his grandparents are doing. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you!! Give Kim a huge hug please!! I can't imagine what she is going through and I hope Nathan can come through this with no permanent problems. Hugs to you all!!

Heck, I'm 43 and I did stuff like this when I was a kid. It's unfortunate that this young man is in the hospital and my heart goes out to him and his family. I also believe it's equally unfortunate that the other young man is being charged! It's not like he "made" the kid do it. He didn't want this to happen! They're kids for cryin out loud!

What ever happened to compassion and understanding? Friends dont intentionally hurt their friends and to hold this 17 year old in jail was not the right thing to do I agree he should have been with his friend. This was a tragic accident that was not intentional. I don't know how old the commentators are here but at 54 I pulled some stunts and did things without the thought of myself or others getting hurt at the time. Reality is we all have probly made bad choices at one time or another and to condemn either one of these BOYS is not the answer, My heart and prayers are with both families... Also had I not made some wrong choices and felt some pain I wouldn't have learned much in life. Sometimes we need a tragidy to wake up and look at the whole picture. And YES THIS CITY NEEDS SOMETHING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO DO!!!!!

Parker just had an event as a Prom awareness to get kids to not drink and drive. It was, from the articles I read, very helpful and got into the minds of the students.

I'm just reminding the students, unfortunately too late, that alcohol/drugs do not need to be involved for a tragedy to occur. Perhaps kids will respect the vehicle and it's power more now, as a valuable source of transportation and not as a toy.

Again, my heart and prayers go out to all of the people involved.

well my heart and prays go out to both of them and there families i hope that everyone has learned from this that you can really get hurt with somethings us teens do. yes i know that im a teen who may do stupid things but adults think we dont learn from our mistakes and we do.. im here for everyone to talk to yes i didnt know the boys that well but i dont call them stupid it was a mistake they made. god bless both families, friends, and students at parker

This is a terrible accident and it my prayers go out to the boy and his family.
The other boys in adult jail because in Wisconsin the Statue 48.02(1d) READS
(1d) "Adult" means a person who is 18 years of age or older, except that for purposes of investigating or prosecuting a person who is alleged to have violated any state or federal criminal law or any civil law or municipal ordinance, "adult" means a person who has attained 17 years of age .

The hard truth is that if your children are not ready to except adulthood or prison at 17 then move south of the border where they will be treated like children until the age of 21.

I hope both these kids get a second chance.

No offense, but what excuse do the children have that do these things in a city that do HAVE A TEEN CENTER. Silly anology. Kids look for risky things to do if it is in their nature regardless if there is a center or not.

This is part of the reason why Janesville needs a TEEN CENTER!! There is NOTHING to do in this town.

Prayers to you Grumpy and your family. I have a brother w/brain damage from an auto accident. It is a VERY sad thing to whitness!! Until you all have been in these shoes and walked the walk pls. don't judge!! Yes! Naughty kids, but who of us haven't been?? Most just get lucky, until the good Lord decides it's time to intervene. Hopefully these young men recover...physically and emotionally.

grumpyheart. that is nice of you to keep others informed.

lovemy2kids- good point

UPDATE ON NATHANS CONDITION

everything is doing good. numbers are holding steady. we are praying for tomorrow and everything goes well thru the night. they will then start gradually try to take away the meds that are keeping him sleeping to see the extent of damage. We pray that he will wake and be just as he was. i will try to keep everyone informed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the boys and their families.. I am sure the boy driving does feel horrible, I mean, obviously they were friends.. And Nathan did decide to jump on the car on his own.. But if kids keep going unpunished for their crimes there will only be more, resulting in more people getting hurt or ending up dead.. That is the problem, kids dont have any consiquences for their actions, not by their parents or the law..

spedtke, you are just wrong, dude. Casper, You can't possibly believe that there aren't enough positive things in our little burg for kids to do. I have posted at least three times when a comment like yours comes up, listing all of the things available for your little treasures in this town. Claiming there is not enough is either an overabundance of ignorance or a lack of initiative on your part.

I can't believe what I am reading! They request that you keep it clean, be nice. I can't believe adults are so cruel. When my children were teenagers I worried that they would get "carried away" in the fun and excitement. Who doesn't? Adults do all the time. Don’t forget about all them out there with DUI’s. We all make poor judgments at times. Don’t punish these kids any more than they already have. You are also punishing their family and friends.
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My heart goes out to both families. Grumpyheart2002. Thank you for telling us how Nathan is doing. You are a wonderful Grumpy to be looking out for Nathan :-)

How come the janesville police dept wasnt there chasing away all of the kids loitering there that night. and why wernt all these so called friends and witnesses trying to stop these boys instead of egging them on more. hopefully they have learned there lesson.

Jason got a signature bond in court today. I am glad that he will be going home and be able to visit his friend in the hospital

This is my cousin we're talking about a great young man and his friends have been delightful that have come up to the hosptial, and I see the comments that are being put up by adults, who may or may not have kids..all I can say is may god be lookin for some good in your heart. Kids will always be kids no matter what you teach them or whether or not you know who they are with or what they are doing. Kids to have to learn from their mistakes and if I were in Jasons situation yes I would love to sit there and be with my friend but at the same time I would want to be punished as well, and for those saying that Nathan as well should be ticketed...isn't he being punished enough for the pain he is going through and possible outcomes of this accident? I'm sorry but some of the comments I have read are pathetic!! And thank you for those who see that kids make mistakes, some mistakes don't always end up pretty. He will recover from this and he'll know he had a loving family, friends, teachers,etc all there with him prayin for a hopeful outcome

Mrperfect: I don't believe this young man should have criminal charges against him nor should he be in jail. I agree with him getting traffic violations. He should get some sort of fines and a suspended license but not jail time. As far as being mature enough to drive, I haven't seen too many 16 or 17 year olds who are very mature acting. We have small children all over my neighborhood and there are always teenagers speeding through, messing around with their cars (like what these kids were doing) and they don't seem to even acknowledge the younger children who are outside playing.

The driver should absolutely be held liable for his actions. Whether it be criminal charges or traffic violations. I'm sure he feels bad enough BUT he did what he did. Of course it was an accident, an avoidable accident. Any person responsible enough to drive a vehicle should have stopped right away, regardless of it being fun or peer pressure. If you can't handle the peer pressure you aren't mature enough to drive. If the police don't give him any consequences I sure hope his parents do. How about this one to start with... no drivers license until he's 18 just for starters.

Yeah, throw em all in jail! Throw the weatherman in there too when he does something wrong!

Let's think about this for a moment. Yes it was a stupid thing. Yes we have all done stupid things. Yes we should be held accountable for our actions. But, we need to learn from our mistakes and grow as a person and a society. My heart goes out to both kids and their families and that Nathan recovers from his injuries. I just hope that everyone realizes that this was an preventable accident, they made the choice to perform this "stunt".

I wish I had a dollar for every time, as a child or teenager, I heard an adult say "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt". It's true. We see videos on America's Funniest Home Videos and TV shows like it where people are just not thinking about the "what if it goes wrong?" options. That, like the article says, comes with maturity, experience and common sense.

I am so sorry for the families of both of these boys, as well as the people who saw it happen. I imagine that life will be a lot different for them for a while. Hopefully, they will heal, but never forget the tragedy that can happen in a single second.

The young man driving the car should not be in jail. If anything he should be made to help take care of his freind so he has to see the pain his friend is going through. This was something they both chose to do and something they will both have to live with for the rest of their lives. I just hope that the young man recovers fully from this. I'm sure his friend is feeling horrible enough already.

Spedtke: I cannot believe you said "If the young man dies, deservedly so"! That is just plain awful and completely disrespectful. The kid did what many teenagers do. They were playing around and got carried away. They obviously weren't high or drunk. They were being boys. Is what they did stupid? Yes, and I'm sure they will have both learned their lesson from this horrible tragedy. But to say that either deserves jail time or to die is just plain wrong.
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I agree with Seabee, it doesn't matter how many things you give teens to do things like this are still bound to happen. I did stupid things when I was young. It is now that I can look back and see just how reckless and stupid I was at times.
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My thoughts and prayers go out to both kids and their families.

just to let people know i will monitor this site and any comments i dont feel appropriate will be deleted

spedtke-"the young man dies, deservedly so."

a bit harsch dont you think. he doesnt deserve to die for being stupid

gazette wroteMoore said. “The truth of the matter is that many of our young drivers do not have the wisdom that age and experience offer.”

how old do you need to be to realize this is not a good idea!!!!

dont they teach in drivers ed. stay in car in seat belt, all hands and limbs inside the car and sit in correct uprite way.
maybe they didnt say dont ride the hood. maybe be more specific next time. didnt they know about the last boy that was killed? They should bring it up from now on in drivers ed i would think

i am sorry this child was hurt- but he should also get a ticket for being stupid. no body forced him to grab on

All I can say is that I can fully understand what both of these young boys are going through.

Spiff, In Wisconsin 17 yrs old is considered an adult for criminal charges. He is exactly where he should be. Would expect 1-3 months jail time and couple years probation. If things take a bad turn and the young man dies you are probably looking at 6-12 months.

seabee----say what you want however i have 4 teens and 4 younger children and giving them positive choices helps to ensure their safety call me what you want but I know what my children are doing and where they are at all times.

Spiff- unfortunately what this boy did is a crime. I understand it is an accident and both boys were at fault, but this is the process that they have to go through. He will have jail court today at 3 and will probably be let go on a signature or very little cash bond due to the circumstances that led up to the accident. i am glad to hear that Nathan is doing fine and I hope that Jason is given only half of the blame. I did some stupid stuff when I was a kid I was just lucky enough to walk away safe. once again my heart goes out to both boys and their families as well as the students and teachers at Parker.

NVgrf -- I think all the gazette was trying to do was point out that the young man that got hurt is a good student.

To those wondering the boy wishes he was there sitting. He is very concerned of Nathans condition and his parents have been there.

spiff: I agree!!

Related to the boy who got hurt it is very hard to sit there day after day and see the hurt we are going thru. It is both their fault but lesson to learn is life is valuable, treat each other with respect each and every day instead of teasing and picking on each other. Nathan is doing well. The kids at Parker High School you all have been wonderful and the support you all have is amazing. And the parents for the food and thoughts, I cant tell you what it has meant. Just keep praying for Nathan and god will make it right.

Every person here commenting or soon to comment on the irresponsibility of kids is hypocritical. Everybody did stupid stuff growing up, that's life. Its just that most of us emerged unscathed. Hope the kid completely recovers, and gets a little wiser. Also, for those saying there isn't enough here for kids to do, that is a bunch of bull. Besides, you really think this stuff won't happrn if we add more things for them to do? I think not.

How sad this is. My heart goes out to both families involved. Why is this 17 year old boy sitting in the Rock County Jail? I understand that kids need to learn, but to toss a young boy into an adult jail system..what is that! Maybe the impact of sitting in a chair in a hospital waiting room would be a bit more effective in this case..

Right, let's build a hangout zone and kids will stop being reckless with cars, it makes perfect sense. How about a bowling alley? If a kid needs to be told it's a bad idea to ride on the outside of a car, I'm not sure what the community can do.

Its hard to believe that something this serious has to happen. All the empty areas in and around the city of Janesville, I am sure something could be built to give the teens and younger ones a positive choice with their free time.

I feel so bad for both families. It is an unfortunate situation for both families.

For quite a while I have been saying how bad that parking lot is on friday and saturday nights. El Ra needs to employ some sort of security from 8-2 those nights so that they can keep the kids out of the parking lot and safe. Every time I go there I have a hard time parking bcuz there are kids everywhere.

My thoughts an prayers go out to both families.

My thoughts and prays go out to his family.

my wishes go out to all families involved wish u all could turn back time we have all done stupid stuff growing up the sad part is we are ok but these kids are not but i dont think any one should be charged he is clearly upset and the boy choose to do it it was a accident and im sure he has learned his lesson my prayers are with all of u and hope everything works out but janesville police need to stop these are good kids that made a mistake go after all the kids that are out doing drugs and stealing

FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE WALLMART PARKING LOT IN JANESVILLE THE SAME THING...I HAD TO EXPLAIN TO MY YOUNG SONS WHY KIDS (TWO TRUCKS AND A CAR) WERE SQUEELING TIRES AND DOING DOUGHNUTS..ALL IN THE SAME SPOT THREE DIFFERENT TIMES. THERE SHOULD BE VIDEO OF THIS IF THE SECURITY CAMERAS WORK. HOPEFULLY THEY READ THIS AND IT SINKS IN.

Let's hope this young man fully recovers. As kids I am sure many of us did things that could have or did result in serious injury and in so learned valuable lessons.
Is it now Gazette policy to state which high school a young person attends and their overall academic record?