As the students file back into a renovated Columbine High School in Colorado, just months after two young gunmen opened fire killing 13 people and wounding 23, a new movie is opening – "Teaching Mrs.

Monday, August 23, 1999

As the students file back into a renovated Columbine High School in Colorado, just months after two young gunmen opened fire killing 13 people and wounding 23, a new movie is opening – "Teaching Mrs. Tingle."

The subject? Oh, just a story about an evil teacher and her students’ attempts to kill her.

Does anyone else see the irony here?

After all the talk about the effect violence is having on our children and all the lamenting about how depraved our society has become, why doesn’t anyone see that movies like this – and television shows and movies that include violence in schools in their plot lines – are part of the problem?

To say that the release of the movie is ill-timed is putting it mildly. The problem is, the release date of the movie probably was exactly timed to coincide with the opening of school. Maybe Columbine High School was a factor and maybe the subject of postponing the movie’s release came up – and maybe it didn’t.

Hollywood is about money. There is no other motivator. Movies and shows with messages are difficult, if not impossible, to get by network and movie executives these days. They need to reach the teen market and that market wants blood and guts.

No one will think about redeeming social values when Scream 13 has made millions for its studio.

The way to get the message across is to boycott Mrs. Tingle and to make sure your teens do as well. Movie executives won’t pay attention until it hurts in their wallets.

We owe that to the students who died at Columbine.