Dear Laura,

I just read this and part one. Each time I read something like this it makes me somewhat glad I'm childless. In fact, come to ththink of it, It doesn't make me wish I'd finished education training in college. (I wanted to be teacher back in the "good ol' days.")

 Makes me think that being in school, or in the halls just isn't safe no matter what happens. I pretty well keep my blogging lists short. There are lots of contentious blogs and websites out here in cyberland. I don't look for them. I'm positive every kid who has a chip on his shoulder has some blog somewhere decrying his status, spouting rage at his elders, and when he's gunned down after some melee at his school, the blog will be mentioned in countless news articles.

This may be the "age of information" but as I am wont to say, "truth and bullshit exist side by side on the internet, sometimes on the same webpage."
I guess I would have to be of the opinion that the teachers should follow whatever protocol has been set up for that particular campus. I remember many "bomb drills" when I was in school. We would all stream out of our classrooms and wait out on the football field while the sheriffs or marshalls combed the rooms. Back in the 60s, our campuses were all "open" and yes, some kids used the opportunity to "ditch".
These two boys possibly really had more of an agenda than "ditching". Whether or not they deserve to be "tried as adults" is quite another matter.

Out here in SoCal during the last fire season, it was determined that one of the biggest blazes had been set by a 10 year old boy. No loss of life, but millions of dollars in damage. (Might be billions, I was never good at math.) There was a brouhaha over whether he should be "tried" at all. (Now of course we have other news stories to keep us entertained, like Britney Spears' mental health problems.)

Truth is, kids are "in the know" about a lot of things earlier these days. (I read that girls breasts start developing at 10 or 11 now, too,  but that's another story, or is it? ) Is puberty coming earlier? Is childhood dead?
At least no one was hurt. Sometimes these "pranks" turn deadly.

One last thing. 17 is old enough to know better, no matter how you slice the cards. In my day, these two boys would have been suspended, perhaps even expelled, and ended up in "continuation school". (Do they still have that, or do incorrigables just end up getting their GED online?

Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool