Of all the places in the world, the last location you would have expected to hear having a problem with school violence would probably be Columbine High School in Colorado.

Friday, October 22, 1999

Of all the places in the world, the last location you would have expected to hear having a problem with school violence would probably be Columbine High School in Colorado.

But, unfortunately, that is just what happened this week. A senior at the school was arrested after telling fellow classmates that he would "finish the job" begun by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two students who opened fire on their classmates last April.

Now, the 17-year-old will face all sorts of charges ranging from inciting destruction of life or property, and theft for allegedly stealing a school microphone.

Losing another teenager in Littleton, Colo., is a tragedy, even though it is hard to feel sorry for someone who would utter a sentence like that, especially in that city.

But what is most disturbing is that in the last place where children should even be thinking of violence, where the wounds are still fresh from the Klebold and Harris killing spree, there are still some who just don’t understand.

If even these teens who have been through the horror of this violence can still throw around such threats, how can we convince the rest of the nation’s teenagers that violence is never the answer.

Anyone who thinks the latest school shootings were a wake-up call for American teenagers had better pay closer attention to the news. Almost every day, there is some new report of a student with a weapon of some sort in school, another child arrested for threatening violence.

These are not cases of juvenile pranks. The violence in our schools must be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

That is the only way to make our schools safe again.