muddysmind.com

Folks, hindsight is 20/5. We can scream all we want that it could have been prevented cause hey they were in "contact" with them right? Well, that doesn't mean the police knew they were planning to kill 13 other people. The contacts were over things like throwing snowballs at people, loitering (the police have approached me about loitering, what was I doing? I was 14 and waiting a frigen ride home!) and fistfights. I'm sorry that it happened. The aftermath affected everyone, including me. In fact, probably me more so than anyone else who regularly posts on this site. Imagine your friends getting stopped because they wear a black trenchcoat into a Wendy's. Mind you they'd worn that trenchcoat for 5 years. How about being harrassed for making statements about "The cult of the athlete." (Yes, I believe their is such a thing and I WAS a high school athlete.) I was a sophomore when all of it happened. I had 3 years for it to affect me, and trust me it did.

There could have been upside to all of this. People could have said wow what these guys did was terrible, but look what was happening to them, and maybe conditions for kids who get picked on everyday, who get beat up after (or during) school for the fact that they like computers more than football. But, that aspect was well ignored by most people and the media. I saw it brought up by a few people and more or less laughed at.

You know...I can see not following up on cracked car windows made from thrown snowballs (of course, those had to be some pretty powerfull snowball throwing) and possibly not following up on prank phone calls (depending on whether they were threatning or not). BUT to not follow up on these kids after finding a Web site runned by Harris and especially not following up after death threats were made.....it just sounds like the precinct in Littleton would have been better off runned by monkeys.

Those poor families.

You'd think so, but honestly, stuff like that (particularly in the mid 90s) isn't uncommon, and usually is just some angry kid taking his anger out with words. If they assumed every kid who said he wanted to kill was going to, well, schools would be alot less full, jails alot more so, and I'd have been in jail at some point.

These kids committed about 50 different crimes just in getting their weapons. I don't think a terrorist threat conviction was going to stop them.

Heck, one of them had actually tried to enlist in the Marine Corps 6 weeks before (sounds like second thoughts to me) but was turned away. Why? Use of mind altering medication: ritalin. These days you can get a waiver, but back then such waivers were a little more difficult.

Also, remember, on one occassion they were arrested and put into a program to try and prevent kids from being sent to jail and becoming career criminals aka a diversionary program. So obviously something was being done. I'm sure if someone thought they were going to go on a shooting spree, things would have been different.

Well, I hope we don't see doubles of my posting - my computer has been hating me this week and I lost my response yet again so here I go again....

"People could have said wow what these guys did was terrible, but look what was happening to them, and maybe conditions for kids who get picked on everyday..."

I understand that...But, these guys went after the innocent ones. I don't believe ( And I could very well be wrong - God knows it wouldn't be the first time) they shot anyone who "hurt" them. Obviously, in either case, it would still be tragic...but going after people who have supposedly made your life miserable would have made some sort of sence. This didn't.

"Also, remember, on one occassion they were arrested and put into a program to try and prevent kids from being sent to jail and becoming career criminals aka a diversionary program. So obviously something was being done."

Yes, I do remember hearing something like that.

"I'm sure if someone thought they were going to go on a shooting spree, things would have been different."

Yea...I'd like to think so too. Who knows, you may very well be right in that thinking. Unfortunately, (or fortunatly...however you want to look at it), I don't have *that* much faith in people. However, sence that incident (as well as because of 9-11), I do think schools have tried to be more alert to trouble.

Actually, they targetted athletes. They also targetted Christians, blacks and Jews.

Why blacks and jews? Not sure, that probably comes from the way they were raised.

Christians and athletes? Simple: athletes are normally the "bullies" in high school, and sometimes in high school the more "popular" people, will portray themselves as Christians, maybe even go to church or what have you - 'cause believe it or not, portraying yourself as a Christian in a local high school can make you look good as long as you don't do anything controversial.

A large number of the people they shot (remember, not everyone they shot died) came from at least one of these groups. But that wasn't something you heard in most of the media reports back then. Where did I hear it? Darryl (sic?) Scott. He came to Atlanta back in 2000 and spoke.

"Simple: athletes are normally the "bullies" in high school, and sometimes in high school the more "popular" people, will portray themselves as Christians, maybe even go to church or what have you - 'cause believe it or not, portraying yourself as a Christian in a local high school can make you look good as long as you don't do anything controversial."

Trust me, you're "preachin' to the choir" on this one :-) I remember high school (though I've tried to forget most of it...for *many* diff. reasons). You have a good point.

I think they cops have a fault because it COULD of been prevented.

it could have been prvented if teacher didn't allow kids to beat on each other and torture each other too, so let's just blame the teachers while we're at it. How about the kids (including the dead ones) who were told about it ahead of time but didn't believe it possible. Let's blame them too.

Come on, prior to Columbine, no one thought this kind of thing would happen.

TO blame the cops because they could have prevented it is a cop out, no pun intended.

it could have been prvented if teacher didn't allow kids to beat on each other and torture each other too, so let's just blame the teachers while we're at it. How about the kids (including the dead ones) who were told about it ahead of time but didn't believe it possible. Let's blame them too.

Come on, prior to Columbine, no one thought this kind of thing would happen.

TO blame the cops because they could have prevented it is a cop out, no pun intended.