Listens to songs that promote violence . Appears to be an average student . Isolated . . . I mean, excuse me. But when you're talking about 53 million children and putting this in the hands of people who don't understand the material . . .
Many educators think such fears are overblown.
And school officials report strong community support for profiling and other safety initiatives. After Granite City's school board recently banned vivid hair dye, for example, parents called to express their gratitude. It's really important that we don't overreact. Yet overreact is what some schools seem to do. Identifying troubled youths often proves easier than getting them the help they need.