IT is a news story to chill the heart of any parent and it features in today’s Argus.

Alarming figures show that over the course of the past year, 196 people trespassed on train tracks. Of those 33 were teenagers or even younger. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to spell out the danger. They could quite easily have been killed.

The mother of one of them, a 12-year-old girl, was horrified to discover that she has fallen on one of the live lines and suffered nasty burns to her hands. It could have been much, much worse.

The mum, Shelley Parkes, is pleading with youngsters to stay off the tracks and we can only hope her message is heeded, otherwise it is only a matter of time before someone suffers a needless death.

Most of us have done foolish things at some point in our lives but choosing to dice with death is just stupid.

Teenagers, more than most, think they are going to live forever and that they are immune from danger. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are as vulnerable as the rest of us.

Many stray onto the tracks or alongside it to indulge in graffiti “tagging” which is not only vandalism but also inherently dangerous.

Trains are fast moving and can cover thousands of feet of track in a matter of seconds, so don’t take the risk.

Not only could you lose your own life but just imagine the grief and mental anguish your loved ones will suffer as a result of one moment of madness.

There are plenty of great ways to entertain yourself. Straying on to railway tracks is certainly not one of them.