Cuillion, I was also thinking along the lines of what you have written. I was listening today to a friend of the two shooting students who had once been a member of their outcast group. He described on tv how they had a "hobby" of making pipe bombs and blowing them up in the back yard of a house where an older man they knew lived alone. He left their group when he realized he could no longer identify with their behavior. He said the police did know about a pipe bomb threat made by these same boys last year.

I couldn't help but think... wouldn't a parent know if your kid had a hobby of making pipe bombs? Why would a parent ignore a minor child's website on how to build bombs?

These kids could have been building instruments instead of bombs. They could have had a garage band practice in the garage last weekend instead of putting together the weapons they built for this event.

On top of what is happening to children in Yugoslavia, this has caused me many hours of lost sleep.

We, here on the Mudcat, are talking about giving kids lyrics and songs, and plans on how to build instruments. When I sang folk songs with my son's class recently, I talked to them about writing their own songs. They were in an African drum class, learning world folk music, and they all loved what they were doing there. I know we can help kids who are not our own children, but ultimately, they live at home with their own parents. My son is in the 6th grade now, and the boy who broke my son's collar bone is the same boy who, two years ago (4th grade), said he couldn't wait to join the army so he could kill people. The school can't change the home life of this kid.

PIE JESU

Pie Jesu,
Pie Jesu,
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
Dona eis requiem,
Dona eis requium.

Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,
You who take away the sins of the world,
Grant them peace,
Grant them peace.