did you ever make it?

Glad that aint in Texas, kids will start fishing and missing a lot of classes...including them teachers too...and parents.........heck the whole school district will take a break to go fishin....

Heck, I must be getting old and getting dementia. I see the bridge and the thing that strikes me is the thought of being jealous of those kids. I know when we were kids we would have loved to have had that in our area. The dares and double dares and all that fun crossing it over and over again. Sigh......

I can't be the only one thinking these things. Heck, kids always like to do challenging things. That's why there's one using the "child-safe" playgrounds.

When I saw this, my first emotion was sadness and fear for these young kids. Then I thought of our country where kids ditch an education to do drugs and are just lazy and could care less about bettering themselves. I feel so proud of these children and pray for their safety and hold positive thoughts for their futures. And we wonder why other countries are surpassing us in almost all areas.

and they did the crossing in skirts!!!!!!!!!!

About that I totally agree with everything you said except for the last part. It is FACT that the U.S. schools have only IMPROVED every single year since the 1960's. We score better in math and science than we EVER have. We also rank very high ---even higher than China because ALL of our students are tested ---many children in China do not even go to school. China only tests city kids in standard schools.

I know all you hear is negative things about our schools on news---and yes, there is much to be improved on. However, facts are facts. Americans created the internet, google, yahoo, microsoft, apple, onbase, We have some of the greatest hospitals and universities in the world. We need to start ignoring the news and understanding how really great we are! We are decendents of the most adventurous smart people of the world ---its our creative thinking and diversity that sets us apart from the rest.

BTW: love it that these kids get an adventure in the morning but they need to fix the bridge---its hard to swim with full body and head coverings.

You beat me to it!! My thoughts exactly!!

Thank you Kallie...well said!

I wish all American kids were so dedicated to attending school! Great story!

Kallie,

not necessarily so. The U.S.A. is not the world. There are a lot of countries that are way ahead of us as far as the school system goes. And adventurous, smart people also live in other parts of the world. A lot of U.S. smart and adventurous people came here from other parts of the world! And IMHO kids here could never do what these kids do, just think about all those lawsuits the parents would start.

Sorry, it copied twice LOL

Good to see some fearless children who know how to handle a tough situation on their own. And it is in order to go to school. So many kids don't appreciate their education. And a lot of kids here in the US can't blow their nose without calling their parents on the cell phone first.

Every US kid needs to see this article.

Nice Kallie

His name tells us where his head is.

great story!

micheal - If you are going to call a large group of people idiots it would probably be best to spell the name of their state and a multitude of other words correctly. I also find it hard to believe a majority (>50% of native born (84% of texan population) Texans (or archaically "Texians") are from northern states.

it seems like it's better waking the cat walk!!!! but these kids are awsome!

I believe I would just Home School...Just sayin...

This is when I hope one of the billionnaires is watching, as they could spend a few million and help these families out by building a bridge. And on another note, I drove my daughter three blocks today in the snow bc I was worried about other cars sliding off the road. So Thankful!

Right now this is all very insperational...and yes, kids love adventure (and also think nothing bad can ever happen to them)...but these kids are just one more "bridge malfunction" away from a tragedy....would you let YOUR kids get to school this way?...or would you make sure they got there safe & sound?

I'm with about that...I was appalled that these children had to go to such risk, yet I remember doing things that were an adventure to us...our parents would have thought otherwise.

I am hoping they will always be safe...and in the meantime having fun.

As for Radical...don't be an idiot...if you're so pissed about everything then go vote in November. Otherwise, shut up. Take your political crap somewhere else. This story has nothing to do with these kids.

micheal - even if "38% of Dallas,Tx population is native texians, that means we were born here" then that leaves 62% of your population to be non-native to texas. Of that 62% most of them are immigrants from another country (mainly mexico) (taken from census). That leaves much less than 50% of your total population from a few select northern states... just saying. That said i am done arguing/discussing semantics because it really isn't related to the topic anyway.

Have a good day!

This is terrible, clearly someone should fix their bridge. I'm sure the Indonesian government can do it with our financial help; all they need is about $2 billion dollars and that bridge will be good as new. They might even be able to replace some of that wood planking.

Even worse than these children's walk to school is the fact that here in America they are reducing funding to arts programs in public schools. Getting to school may be a daily life and death struggle for the Indonesian children but ours may no longer be able to make macaroni giraffes at previous quantities and frequencies. This is permanently damaging to our children's sensibilities. What are we going to cut next? Crosswalks?

I'm just kidding. If this story does anything it creates perspective. It shows how lucky we are and how ridiculously out of hand some of our expectations and entitlements have grown with regards to education. Art, Music, band, choir, athletics, etc... are great if we can afford them, but school is not defined by these programs. Some people will cross precarious bridges over dangerous waters just for an opportunity to learn to read and write. Sorry 'Glee', we've grown pretty pathetic.

Why would you bash America after looking at this crap hole. They need to keep some of those work boots they are making for wallyworld and fix the friggen bridge. Some of you so called Americans need to look in the mirror and ask yourself if my neighborhood was falling apart, what would I do? If the answer is nothing but bitch, then you are a piece of work and need to change your ways. I have been dirt poor, but I always gave a Shist about my surrounding and helped people the best I could with the resources available to me.

micheal 3747102

Looks to me like you got your education in Texas ! I moved my children out of Houston and brought them to Pennsylvania so they could spell . We also have catfish in our rivers although most of us prefer our native brook trout to the bottom feeders. As far as the article is concerned ... jeeze people fix the bridge that's scary!

@micheal-3747102

majority of the people living here in Texas use to live up north, like from Pennsilvania, Michigan, Illinois, ECT. I can tell you this, they are the biggest idiots here, they elected Bush as govnor, and they elected perry as govnor.

So are you saying the majority of people living in Texas aren't "real" Texans or that "real" Texans don't bother to vote?

My first thought was: "Why don't these journalists contribute to getting the bridge fixed or replaced?!" At any moment that bridge could give way because of the added stress on fewer supports and the children could fall into the river and drown. If I were there and had the means, that's what I'd be doing. These photographers are benefiting financially from this disaster. Seems like a little pay-back would be both humanitarian and ethical.

FatBob: We can ask the same thing about our politicians, who are getting rich while ignoring our crumbling infrastructure. Before we criticize other countries' shortcomings, it seems to me we need to clean our own house--and senate.

Jo Ann-666954

Every US kid needs to see this article.

Why Jo Ann? They'd just shrug their shoulders and say "whatever", then go text their friends and tell them how their parents made them look at some "stupid" picture of some "stupid" kids in another country.
Our kids today could care less. They've been handed so much on silver platters, they wouldn't even know how to think themselves through a situation like that.

About that,

about that

When I saw this, my first emotion was sadness and fear for these young kids. Then I thought of our country where kids ditch an education to do drugs and are just lazy and could care less about bettering themselves. I feel so proud of these children and pray for their safety and hold positive thoughts for their futures. And we wonder why other countries are surpassing us in almost all areas.

Having lived in the Orient, I can tell you the big difference. Over there they would have beaten them silly with a bamboo cane if they skipped.

I'm not claiming it is right or wrong, just pointing out that if I knew I was going to be caned 100 times if I skipped, I wouldn't have missed a day out of fear of what would happen if I did. Bridge, broken bridge, no bridge or crocodiles in the river...I still would have made it to school.

Part of their schools teaching curriculum should include , how to repair bridges...

No my dog didn't eat my homework, it was a crocodile. No I'm serious. It fell in the river when I was dangling off the broken bridge on my way to school.....

We take so much for granted here in the US. "It's just another day, for you and me, in paradise"

Count your blessings!

How do you walk up hill BOTH ways? What goes up, must come down.

Conway: AMEN to that!!

Kallie, let me take a wild guess, is that the propagada you heard at the latest NEA meeting? I am descently educated (BSN 2000, MBA 2002, and half way through a Masters in Accounting) and have two school-aged daughters and I think the public school system is horrible in the US. American kids go to school on average only about 175 days a year (thanks to the tenure system loving NEA mentioned above). I bet you countries like Japan's kids go to school a lot more days a year than our kids. Unengaged and lazy patents are also partly responsible for the sad state of our public schools but I think it is more the Teachers/NEA. If the teachers only teach 4 or 5 hours of curriculum a day (with recess, breaks, lunch, late starts, and early releases) and the parents let the kids come home to watch their 2.3 hours of "screen time" every weeknight it's not surprising our school system ranks poorly on a global scale. That's why I don't have any cable or internet in my home, my daughters don't see a "screen" except for a couple of hours on the weekend.

They're maintaining the bridges? All of them? Really?

That's the problem.

We spent all our money on useless wars over the past 30 years.

Infrastructure is crumbling all around the USA but the defense dept goobled up all the money that could have been used to fix it all.

.

What, no ride in mom's Lexus? There are two schools near me. The high school student parking lot is full of very nice cars and at the elementary school there's a queue of cars in the a.m and p.m. where parents drop their spoiled little brats off or pick them up. When the parents don't agree with "school rules" they come to school with a lawyer and threaten a law suit. These kids are literally risking their lives for an education. I hope all this publicity will get them a new bridge. They deserve it.

United, we spent just as much or more on useless bailouts of campaign contributors and useless stimulus for the creation of either non-existant or useless public sector jobs.

These kids are getting more than an education. They are learning survival skills! Notice none of them are over weight or obese either. We spoiled Americans...imagine what most American kids (and adults) would do if they suddenly encountered an obstacle like this river and bridge, most would die.

Americans huh? What are you jim besides a turncoat?

Stupid comment. The average American kid does go to school. And they also participate in band or swimming or baseball or drama or a million other activities. Enough with bashing the American kids. The real issue is that the overbearing, uptight American parents wouldn't let their little angels cross that bridge. The kids would do it for fun.

Such an un-American solution. Why fix a broken bridge when you can tax the craap out of the parents, buy a school bus (with the attendant full-time-forever jobs for a driver, mechanic, security guard at the parking lot, etc.) and make the kids get up two hours earlier so they can be driven 50 miles downriver to cross at an intact bridge?

@Vick shaw: do you have kids? I do. In our area the kids have to walk if they live within two miles of the school. All the kids, even pre-k.

If the weather is so bad they close school early, these kids have to walk home in it. They walk through sections with no sidewalks, no street lights, past registered sex offenders, through 100+ heat, ice storms, you name it. They do it carrying instruments of every size, heavy back packs, school projects, fun raiser items, and more.

And yes, this is in the United States.

Right on, Denver Bill. Stupid Americans ... coming up with dumb solutions that don't involve groups of kids making a death-defying walk across a broken bridge. If it doesn't kill them (and it might), it will make them stronger. Pure Darwinism. Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide.

"Americans complain about paying taxes to maintain the bridges that they already have."

Wrong, we complain about paying taxes to support massive entitlement programs. We have no issues paying taxes for schools, roads, bridges, firemen, military and all there other services that we receive value from. The issue is that 50+% of my taxes go to the entitlements not the services.

Roselyna-

Yes they close schools early if the weather is too the point a child may be in danger. But where I work, if the weather is bad, we stay until parents of children walk home come and gets their children. And yes, every child that lives within 1.5 miles of the school must walk. But seriously, are you saying we should have buses transport the children living within walking distance? I can see if they live across a major highway having a crossing guard. I have little sympathy for parents who complain about their children having to walk to school. I did it. And yes, in the 1970s there were sex offenders, unpaved areas, and school projects. It is called making a committment to value what the government has provided-a free education. How many parents would let there child attend the school pictured in this article. Instead, they demand the latest technology and complain if a child has to walk in the rain. I don't think schools can do much about the rain-but we are expected to do everything else. More and more people point to schools in America and ask what we are doing. I know there are very good parents out there-I see them everyday. However, increasingly that is not the case. Blame the economy, blame children, blame whoever you want, but there is good and bad everywhere and for whatever reason, people want to blame the educators for not doing enough. What exactly is enough?

I was thinking the same thing. I hope some rich benefactor can fix it. sad.

@Roselyna - that is just a few of the reason my wife educates our children at home. No, we are not rich, though I am making more than when we first started (I was making about 25K a year when my wife decided to stay home with our kids). We just decided to place our family first and made the necessary adjustments to our life style.

1) Children do not see dangers as clearly as adults, therefore the risk is worth it to them. The article did state that they had an alternate route.

2) The risk of injury is clearly there, it's not unusual for children to be injured from doing this. I don't blame any parent for directing their children not to go over this bridge.

3) People adjust to conditions that either they were born into or in an incremental fashion. You can't just throw some into a new and adverse environment and expect immediate acceptance. If the conditions of the US slowly deteriorate, we will be doing the same thing.

Resources: university psychology classes

John - I absolutely, 100% DISAGREE.

All I have heard from republicans is how much the "public worker" is breaking our banks...teachers are overpaid, firefighters, police officers, and so on. How rich people like Romney are paying too much in taxes (15%) and therefore, cant create the jobs they would like you (who's buying that?)...

Here's a thought...how about we take those folks on welfare, and give them jobs instead of free housing, free food? They can work on those bridges, roads, sewer systems, ect...that you seem to think folks like yourself REALLY WANT TO INVEST IN, if only all our tax money wasnt going towards entitlment programs.

And please, dont even mention social security...the bulk of americans NEED that. that is not ENTITLEMENT, it's a SOCIAL CONTRACT - IT IS INSURANCE< END OF STORY.

you pay in, you get it out. it is fully funded through 2025 (without a single change) and would be doing even better, if more americans WERE ACTUALLY WORKING (which is what we want, right?).

I say we take public workers pensions, and move them to social security (where it always should have been to begin with) and you make the program even MORE solvent. It solves the unfunded pension issue and it gives those public workers what they actually have earned. Granted, public employees wont get out of it what they thought they were going to get, but at least they can rest assured they'll get something...which cant be guaranteed at this point...especially given the political climate.

Finally, Rich people DO NEED TO PAY MORE...the top 10% owns 90% of the wealth, so you're damn right they should be paying 90% of the taxes.

DOnt like it? Raise the wages of the rest of the workers, and then - like magic - they can pay more.

We are going backwards, because we refuse to invest in america and her people...not on wall street, but on EVERY STREET.

I just saw this on tv. I'm so upset. The school needs to be closed until a safer way is found.

I don't understand how an article of this nature about children risking their lives to get to school every day would make some of the people on this thread write rude and obnoxious comments.

I would think that we as the "amazing American people" would be leaving comments like "Where can we donate a measly $20 to help restore and rebuild this bridge?" because if everyone donated ten or twenty dollars we could help another human.. a child, get to school.

And yes, there is another way for them to get to school, an alternate route that adds another 30 minutes to their walk, but they're children... of course, they are going to take the shorter way, even if that means crossing the bridge of death, risking drowning, etc.

I mean really, if we as Americans can't understand that, then why do we waste our tax dollars on crossing guards for our children to cross streets safely among a million other ways we ensure our children's safety every day.

Maybe we should all be going home and reading this article to our, much more fortunate, children and show them what these kids go through every day just to get to school. And just maybe we should ask our children if they would give up their allowance for this week to donate to the rebuilding of this bridge, or not go to the movies this weekend, etc. C'mon people, we are Americans... we are the best nation in the world.. nothing can compare to the heart and compassion of an American.

Love to all.

Jessica, I agree with John. Your first mistake is to automatically assume that he is a Republican; conservative doesn't mean Republican every time. I'm a conservative, but I'm also a Libertarian. I was also from California at one time. They tried a program there in the nineties that required welfare recipients to work at a job and recieve training in that job. It worked like a charm; I knew people who suddenly had a whole lot of self-esteem and optimism about their lives. Unfortunately, election time came, Democrats reestablished power and the program was yanked as being "discriminatory". Almost everyone lost the jobs they were training for, and everyone went back to the soul crushing oppression of social programs. The end. I also agree with laurenleh, everybody should pitch a few bucks toward the bridge and fix it before a cool childhood memory is ruined by some tragedy like a slip and fall.

A woman named Katie stated that in American education system, we score higher in math in science than other nations education system! This is not true at all. And our system has been falling each year sense the 60's. If this woman had done some research on our failed education, she would easily learn that other nations have surpassed Americas public education system. One very well researched book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, by Charlotte Iserbyt, former senior policy adviser in the U.S. Dep of Education. Also go to, www.truthfulpolitics.com that site has proof of statics that reveal our failed education system. Its sad that many Americans no longer read books, or do in depth study of subjects that are destroying our nation from within! Regarding these children going to school, they know and understand the value of education, nothing will stop them from acquiring knowledge! Knowledge is Power!

@Jessica

how about we take those folks on welfare, and give them jobs instead of free housing, free food?

That sounds like a great plan. Where do we start? How about those welfare people trading places with people who are NOT on welfare and getting NO free food, NO medical, NO housing....NO HELP whatsoever. I'm talking about the ones that have worked their butts off and then got LAID OFF from jobs they had for years. Let's let THEM enjoy the welfare, free food, medical and housing for a while.

And then when there are jobs for ALL people to go to, we could just stop the welfare programs altogether and let EVERYONE work or do without.

Ouch, did that sound too harsh for some?

I don't think so!

And if the bridge fails, or a child falls into the river and drowns, will you feel the same way? I agree that the American educational system needs major work, but recklessly risking the lives of children in this manner simply means there are a great many uncaring parents and leaders in this village. An extra 30 minutes of walking to use a safe bridge would harm no one.

Don't accuse their parents/leaders of being uncaring - we don't know the whole story. The children chose this path, for whatever reason, so they can get to school. They know their is an easier path, and are well aware it would take 30 minutes longer. They have different mentality than American kids, time may be more precious to them since transportation is so scarce. I only know what a small paragraph and several pictures show me: Emboldened kids trekking through a broken bridge to get an education.

speak for your own kids. MY kid goes to school even when it's -25 outside or if there is 6+ inches of snow. So no not all American kids are wimps. Just yours.

Enough with the lazy American kid bashing! Speak for yourself.

My kids go to school every day unless they're sick and they also participate in many sports and activities and pack as much as they can into every day. If your kids aren't, maybe that's on you.

WRONG! When I was a kid, living in NY, my mom would take me to Preschool and we'd WALK all the way there. It was a LONG walk and I'd do it anyway, as a 4-5 year old. I remember clearly a few times we had to walk in snow to get there and back. Also when I lived in NJ; my sister and I had a bus to take us to school, but the bus stop was quite a bit away from our house. The worst that would happen would be that we'd just go to school at 11am instead of the normal time, but I remember times of my grandma taking us to the bus stop and walking on ICE to get there. Up north, kids are not spoiled with not going to school with an inch of snow. There had to be a blizzard or something for school to be cancelled.

Now when I moved to Florida, there was no snow of course, but in Miami, I had to walk to my middle school and it wasn't THAT close. I'm sure it was further than 2 miles. In Miami it rains a lot, but oh well, had to go anyway. In Tampa, they took away our bus to my high school after a year or two since apparently we lived too close. Same thing with the rain and distance problem until I got my own car my Junior year of high school. Only when hurricanes were in our area would school close.

So, I DID have numerous cases throughout my life of not having the easiest time going to school, and I am so thankful for when I did have a bus to take me, my own car to take me, etc.

My cases were still EASY compared to what those kids in Indonesia have to go through as they don't have that option, but DO NOT insult American kids just to amuse yourself, because your statement is false. Maybe you live in the South where it snows, but not so much and they close school with a small amount of snow, but you have to think about the fact that here in the South, there are little to NO salt trucks to remove ice. It's not so much the kids that aren't willing to go to school, but that it is dangerous for DRIVERS to drive on the ice. So either way, your statement is an ignorant one.

if this happened in America, all the kids would drown after they fall in because you can't walk on a broken suspension bridge, or swim, while texting

Plus, the American kids are so fat they'd break the bridge the rest of the weigh...eh, way!

No one asked if you did.

I don't care...

Then why did you read the article and post your comment if you don't care (assuming that you actually read it before posting)?

And who gives a damn that you don't care ?

Peter, I don't care that you don't care that he doesn't care. What a caring bunch we are....GROUP HUG!!!!! rotf!

Totally agree. Next thing someone in America will want to do is send aid money. Enough. Adults need to act like parents and take care of their children. It's called wreckless endangerment and is prosecutable in our country. Build another thatch hut on this side of the damn river!

The word is "reckless," and as someone who lives in SE Asia and has been to Indonesia 11 times and spent loads of time there, it's hard to build a new bridge when there's no money, no engineering knowledge, and no materials. Look at the collapsed bridge. It's not exactly fancy, is it? This is a country with a few pockets of wealth, but for the most part, Indonesia is a very impoverished country. It's difficult to NOT look at everything through spoiled American eyes, I understand that, but we have it better in the US than most people truly realize. Over half the world's population lives on less than $3 a day. Try to get your brain around that before chastising an entire nation, or suggesting that Indonesians don't care about their children. (Believe me, every time an American child dies in yet another hail of gunfire, the rest of the world wonders why the US doesn't care about ITS children.)

Most american kids would go to school in 2 feet of snow just for the fun. It's the chickensh!t beauracrats who close the schools when theres a couple of inches. As in teachers unions!!!!!!!!!!! They can't have thier teachers out driving in 1 inch of snow!

Administrators are not in the teacher's union. How do you spell their?

Chad,

well said. My daughter lived in Indonesia for a while and most people in this country (USA) don,t understand how impoverished that country is.

They're too impoverished to fix a hanging bridge? It's just not their priority. Still having children though.... Sounds oddly framiliar.

What's "framiliar" is the well-known and direct correlation between poverty and lack of access to knowledge about birth control, as well as the birth control itself. Also, for many Asian cultures, adult children take financial care of their parents, so there's a bit of an incentive to have a few. As someone said earlier, don't be so quick to look at everything through American eyes.

i totally agree with thinkforyourself. Johnboy is not a very well rounded person when it come to other cultures. i dont think people like johnboy knows why it important for asian to have a lot of family members. the reason why they do it, becasue in a country that hard to make living everyone in the household works and help around, even the kids a young as 7. so the more family members you have, the more income that come in. also, it is an incentive to have kids because when the parent grow old, their kids take care of them and all the finical. not like here in america where family value is not important and when you grow old John, you will find yourself in a old people home all by yourself. i am not say all american is like this but most are...this is just real talk.

Much like a Christian would say that God must have wanted her back.

As a Christian, I would never say that God wanted her back. However, most people don't know how to express sympathy, and they say unfortunate things like that.

Idj- The answer is not more and more money spent on education. I question the amount of money spent on school buildings and fixtures that are nicer than most of the homes the children live in. The biggest problem is not the "right wing repubs". The biggest problem starts in the home where children do not receive proper guidance. A child growing up in a single parent household can be at a disadvantage due to (1) lack of time (2) stress(3) money. I can state that it was a lot easier with 2 of us to raise our children plus the time to share with child about their day. With divorce rate and single parent household the child does not always get the best environment to grow. It is possible but not as likely. The culture you speak of has to come from the home first, if the parent does not promote this the child has less incentive to exceed. Stop blaming politicians when the will and drive starts at home. South Tx where there is a large immigrant population , the parents do not value education the same. Most of these children do not go on to further schooling as their value system is different. The teacher is very important in these situations as to whether child will listen , when they get a diiferent message at home.

School is canceled if it's too cold?? Try telling that to my kid that went to school in -25 degree weather yesterday.

Pretty funny. You wring your hands at the lazy kids who won't get an education, and decry the state of education in the US, and you can't spell "too".

Now go back and look at your work and realize there were 5, yes 5, separate places where you didn't use the proper word. And you misspelled school. Maybe someone else needs a little more education?

If that's how schools near you work, where do you live? My kids get up at 5:45 am every morning, and they leave for school at 7:15 am. My son, who weighs barely 90 lbs carries a 25 lb trombone and a 35 lb backpack (we've weighed them) the close to two miles to school. He does this in the dark, through areas with no sidewalks, and through all weather.

School lets out at 3:30 pm and he makes the trip back. Being in Texas, the heat can and does hit over 100F for large chunks of the year. He walks home in that carrying about 2/3 of his body weight in stuff.

The kids get 30 minutes to eat, with 10 of that being taken up in the lunch line, if they don't bring a lunch. They have no study halls. They get 4 minutes between classes to cross an entire campus. Gym teachers let them out at the bell and in that four minutes they have to make it into the locker room through the crush of kids, unlock their locks, change their clothes, and make it to their next class. In four minutes. If they don't, they get a tardy and have to spend a lunch in detention.

I'm not saying that is anything compared to crossing a broken bridge, but don't make it out that American kids are pampered and spoiled in school. That is not the reality.

Philly- Congradulations- you were the only one who noticed!

Well, as long as I'm being all scholarly, I have to point out that you misspelled "congratulations".

Sorry!

as much as you are trying to be a dick, phillyfan, you only made kelldon's point more of a point.

Are they supposed to stand there "helping" them every day? First of all, they don't need their help. Maybe if they could rebuild the bridge that would be nice. Other than that, the kids seem to be doing just fine without media help.

if kids are crossing a bridge where a support pillar has been broken, then hell YES they should help them every day instead of standing safely on the bank of the river, taking pictures of them. who cares what country they're from, what religion they practice or what their parents' political agenda is? these are KIDS. no kid should be facing this kind of danger. EVER.

what's wrong with you?

Who said anything about their religion or where they live or their parents' political agenda, other than you? I couldn't care less about those things.

I am giving the kids credit for being able to take care of themselves, and you want to coddle them. They don't need your coddling. If you want to stand there helping these kids every day, go ahead. But don't put it on the reporter or photographer.

There's nothing wrong with me. What's wrong is that you live in a world where you have no idea that kids face dangers worse than this every single day. You need to get out of your bubble.

Hey Philly, if America suddenly decided that it was going to deliver kids to school on open flatbed trucks instead of buses, and one of those flatbed trucks got creamed in an accident splattering kids all over a highway full of speeding vehicles - would that be "okay"? Now, if those kids in that picture slip, or the remaining cable breaks and twelve of them drown, is it okay that the adults didn't fix or disable that bridge? If they were lily-white Americans would you feel the same about them doing that, or being allowed to do that? I doubt it.

you'd take care of kids by allowing them to cross a bridge that could collapse at any minute while you stand by and give them credit? you, philly, are an idiot because you don't recognize the fact that kids that young should NOT be exposed to that kind of risk under any circumstance. any responsible adult, be they a bystander, a photographer, a reporter, whoever, should stop those kids from crossing that bridge. sure, a reporter has a right to report a story, but at what risk? the media in this story made a bad decision, and i'm calling them out for it. if it were adults crossing the bridge, it wouldn't be an issue... an adult can decide for him/herself. but a child should NEVER have to make that decision, and a child should never have to risk their lives while an adult stands by and takes pictures.

for the benefit of the rest of us, and for your own children, if you have any, get that through your head.

How do we know they didn't? Is this speculation, another 'NEWT' damn the media moment? Atleast they, the media, did it's job, convey the message of TENACITY, in the face of obstructions. Now if we can get the Right Wing Republican Politicians to do theirs.....

Hey Jerk and Mike,

You guys have absolutely no idea what I'm trying to say, but you're great at putting words into my mouth. You're simply making things up and attributing them to me.

I never said I want my own children or anyone else's to live with these kinds of risks. But as someone who has traveled all over the world, including South America, Europe, and Asia, this type of thing is all over the place. You can't expect the photographer to stop everything and correct every unhealthy or unsafe situation he sees. He is doing his job in documenting the event and making it visible to the world. Look how it has affected the group of people on this board.

The point is that this is simply the world these kids live in. It isn't the way we'd want it to be, but that's the reality. Would you have the photographer drop his life and stand by that bridge every single day and make sure the kids get over the bridge safely? If that's your opinion, then I'd ask you to go shepherd kids through difficult inner-city neighborhoods so they can get safely to school. And while you're at it, please head down to Mexico and take care of that messy drug gang thing. And don't forget Haiti!

By the way, the kids in the picture did in fact make the decision to cross the bridge. According to the story (did you read it?) there is another safe way to get across the river. The kids chose not to use it. Should the reporter/photographer have scolded children who are not his own, in a culture that is not his own, and made the kids change their ways for him? You both sound like people who haven't traveled much, and think we should impose our standards and opinions on others.

Thanks so much for your helpful suggestions on how I should live my life and what I should get through my head. But I, and my well-adjusted, involved, strong, educated, respectful, and successful children are just fine, thanks.

Hey Mike, I love how you somehow figured out that the skin color of the kids in the picture had an affect on my opinion. You have no idea how I think, but I now have an idea how you think. You've exposed yourself as an opinionated bigot.

You and Jerk are hell bent on interjecting race, religion, politics, etc. into this discussion. Guess what, that's on you. Don't try to impose your hang-ups on me, thanks.

let me see if i can help you out a little...

one, we're not talking about the kids making a bad decision. we're talking about the ADULTS, in this case: the media... the reporter, the photographer, anyone who was there, making a bad decision. not just a bad decision, but an immoral one. an irresponsible one. so what if the kids chose not to use the other bridge? kids aren't known for decision-making. trust me on this one..... i'm a bit of an expert in this area.

two, just because kids are in danger every day doesn't make it acceptable. and using the 'well, why don't YOU do something about it' argument isn't a defense, either, because it's hypocritical: if these were your kids, would YOU let them cross the river on this bridge so that you could take pictures of them? be careful... it's a trick question.

and here's the funny thing.... if i walked up to you and kicked you in the knees, then if you tried anything at all, or even if you tried to stop me, you'd be doing exactly the opposite of what you're saying you should be doing: standing by and watching as i put myself in danger. chew on that one a bit.... it'll make sense eventually.

Media figured it would make a better story if they fell

Jerk, you can't help me out, trust me. With faulty, circular logic like yours, you can't help anyone. It's you who should be seeking help. But thanks for trying!

it takes guts to admit you can't be helped.

Philly...I'm sure you also agree that people who "document" other people in trouble or those extremely hurt, with their cell phone, then placing it on YouTube, Facebook or any media outlet so that many others can see--rather than putting the phone down and helping the hurt or endangered person(s)--is okay and responsible "journalism," as well. You are one step away from claiming that that type of no-action is perfectly legit. and helpful, too--essentially watching/"documenting" as someone dies. (And, please spare me any basic High School "Logic & Semantics" class banter on the travails of 'slippery slope.' That's usually just an excuse made by one who feels no compassion or need to take action-because they don't really wish to create more work for themselves.)

Hey anon. Guess what? NOBODY GOT HURT HERE! And nothing bad happened! They do this every day, get it?

Another American trying to impose your values and your opinions and your culture on others. What if you didn't approve of what they ate for dinner? Do you have an obligation to bring them some good American food to make it all better, night after night?

Get over yourself.

Why not just absorb it, and be neither impressed nor shocked? Why do you have to break it down like that?

it is what it is. why be impressed, or shocked? i don't know. probably the same reason one would troll the page commenting on everything they see, isn't that right philly?

Yeah, like that Hispanic kid that got mugged by a group of white kids in a white ethnic Chicago neighborhood. Gotta stay out of those ethnic neighborhoods.

dude. Where do you live

Should have seen what that bridge looked like before they fixed it....LOL

True !!

Early,you are one funny cat rofl, last week you killed me with your "Shades of Klinger" remark...keep it up ..... I'm still giggling Thank You!!!!!!!!!!1

No kidding. There are some truly execrable people whose bitterness and ugliness really comes out under the anonymity of the Internet.

I agree...I don't understand how people immediately politicize every single event. Get over yourselves, people.

It's not the politicization of the story; it's the utter lack of human decency and compassion, coupled with the arrogant attitude that only OUR way (America's) is right or proper. It's pretty shameful, but I'm just going to convince myself that there are at least an equal number of enlightened, compassion, and global-thinking Americans out there, too.

Think, I completely share your opinion. See my other comments on this story, we have a similar viewpoint.

As a former Army Combat Engineer (Construction), you are right ! Done before lunch, dinner at the latest!

The corporate interests that control our military are NOT INTERESTED...unless their is an oil pipeline around there somewhere.

how is this our problem? If it was a bridge in our country, it would be fixed. Why exactly can't they repair their own bridge? Oh right, because despite the people that our economy sucks, the debt continues to rise, and we can employ ppl in OUR country we should go build a bridge for every third world country in the world whose leadership is too greedy to build one for them. get real

Maybe there IS an oil pipeline around there, as it is in OPEC-member Indonesia.

Hey Hippybiker, guess you power your "bike" the air? Maybe its a solar bike...or windpower...which would mean its hooked directly up to the Great Windbag...President Obama.

no problem, they can just have more.