What do you think about school shootings/hit lists?

This is such a sticky problem, because in hindsight we see the preperations that shooters made, and how much evidence there was, and how someone should have seen it coming...or at least we like to think that someone should have seen it coming. But in reality a lot of kids make lists and doodles in order to get things out of their systems. They aren't really planning anything, they're just venting. And that venting is healthy. There's a psych professor at my school who thinks about killing people when he's stressed--but he's the most harmless person you've ever met. The truth is, if every person who thought about or who wrote done stuff about hurting others were put in jail, then there wouldn't be anybody left on the outside. I think that the key to detecting true threats is to look beyond the obvious. If a child makes a threat, then the adult shouldn't rush to punishment, but try to figure out what the basis of the threat is. Is the child violent, or just frustrated? The key is for adults to pay attention, and not just react.

Not every kid who makes up a 'hit list' actually plans to hurt anyone. I know when I was younger, I would make lists of people I didn't like at times, along with lists of my friends. I never intended on doing anything about it, I was just writing down people I hated to get it out of my system. I guess I understand that school administrators and teachers are paranoid, but I don't think arresting every kid who writes down a list of people they hate or makes an empty threat is the answer. I guess I am very sensitive about this issue because I have a close friend in jail due to just such a thing, when he never actually hurt anyone, or even came CLOSE to hurting someone.

I have no kids so it's not like it hits home with me, but I have always been so sadden by these tragedies. I live in VA so there was a like more action here because of that. It's really sad. I cried the entire day of this shooting and the one for Columbine. That was horrible as well. It's just sad that these troubled people have to take innocent lives with them.