US schools become laboratories for ways to halt deluge of bomb scares, murder plots. N.J. In North Carolina, lawmakers want to suspend for one year any student who makes a bomb threat - whether or not the individual is convicted. In suburban Atlanta, a district is mandating see-through book bags as a way to guard against weapons being brought into the classroom. In Clayton, Mo., some local media outlets have agreed not to broadcast news of bomb threats in hopes of reducing copycat pranks. One month after the tragedy in Littleton, Colo., communities are taking far-reaching steps to curb bomb plots and prevent violence.
Some districts are staggering class schedules so fewer students are in school at any given time.
A few have simply shut down early for the summer. Congress, too, is getting involved. As part of the massive juvenile-crime bill, some lawmakers want to prohibit bombmaking instructions from being posted on the Internet. Police combed a Cheektowaga, N.Y., school April 30 after it received a violent threat - a common scene since the tragedy in Colorado. The dramatic actions stem from the continuing number of bomb plots and threats of violence that keep pouring into schools - sowing fear among students, disrupting classrooms, and costing vast sums in added law enforcement.