The most recent example of violence in the nation’s schools started with a seemingly harmless act.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

The most recent example of violence in the nation’s schools started with a seemingly harmless act. A child at a Florida middle school was sent home by an assistant principal because he was throwing water balloons.

That in itself is a common prank for a young man – a predictable reaction to the last day of school. This was a relatively minor offense, especially for a young man with perfect attendance and a place on the honor roll.

What happened next was anything but typical.

That young man went home and got himself a gun and returned. When he was denied access to a classroom to talk to two girls, he shot the teacher in the face. That 35-year-old man with a young wife and new baby died. All because he dared to challenge a seventh-grader.

There will be some people who will look at this incident and point to the need for gun control. Their argument is persuasive. How did a child get a loaded gun anyway? What were his parents thinking?

There isn’t much time left to find the answers to those questions. This nation cannot handle too many more of these tragedies.

There will be others who will wonder how an honor student and otherwise a model teen could have learned to react so violently when facing a challenge by an innocent authority figure.

That is the question that teachers, administrators, law enforcement officers and others who deal with youths know is the most critical. Parents are starting to understand, too. They worry when their child walks out the door, as do the spouses of the men and women who are at the blackboard.

Until we can figure out why children are turning to violence to resolve their differences and to satisfy their anger, we have no hope of ending the rash of gunfire that is destroying schools, communities and families.

Talking is not enough anymore. We cannot afford to lose one more 7-year-old or to leave one more family without a father.

There will be time for rhetoric later. Now, we need action.