The plans include taking every threat seriously. That's a wise strategy. Most of the shooters seem unable to express their emotions in a controlled and non-confrontational manner. The typical shooter adolescent, middle-class boys seemed, oftentimes, to be impulsive, full of pain, angry and suffer from a lack of attention in large, presumably impersonal schools. Franklin County schools may have an advantage over the schools in Santee, Calif., Littleton, Colo., Jonesboro, Ark. and others because of their smaller and hopefully more personal environment.
Kids can still fall through the cracks here too.
But with a concerted effort by parents, teachers, community members and other students, it is less likely to happen. We believe it is up to all of us to do everything we can to let kids know that we care about them. Kids need to be taught how to deal with bullies and other anxieties. We should keep people from teasing and ridiculing each other, but kids also need to learn to ignore hateful remarks. We should all be on the lookout for signs of kids who are feeling desperate and try to get them some help.