Acting on the Unthinkable

The school year is barely a month along and already the nation has been shaken by a series of school shootings. The latest, just yesterday in Pennsylvania's beautiful Lancaster area, involved the systematic execution of schoolgirls in a one-room Amish school house. A fifth victim, a teacher's aide, died today. The shooter in Pennsylvania, a heavily armed male who left a suicide note before his crime, took his own life at the scene. Last week, in similar fashion, a 53-year-old homeless man held schoolgirls hostage in Bailey, Colorado, sexually abusing several (he had reportedly asked for specific girls he had seen on a popular teen web site) before killing one. He too died at his own hand. How extensive is this year's fall surge of shootings? Since the start of the school year, according to ABC News, there have been 25 incidents across the country involving school shootings, seven involving fatalities. Yesterday President Bush announced plans to convene a summit of education and law enforcement leaders to talk about ways the federal government can help stem the violence. Violence against young, innocent children was once uncommon, even unthinkable, in America. As policy makers meet, there should be time to reflect on how many other taboos modern culture has shattered, how many other unthinkable things are now thought of - and acted upon.

Additional Resources
Fifth girl dead after Amish school shooting