On May 10, 2011, a fourth grade student at Stein Elementary brought a BB gun to school and opened fire on six of his classmates. The question must be raised of how did this child get this BB gun, and what if this child had been a real firearm?

  It is human instinct to presume young children as a walking soul of innocence.  Although innocence tends to vanish in the teenage years, personal experience and trauma play a huge role in the mental development of a young mind.

  Blame on this issue seems to be in only two directions: parental negligence and violence prevention in schools, when in reality there are many avenues and other unknowns that may have contributed to this unfortunate situation.  Absent of necessary information, it isn’t completely clear why this boy acted this way and what his motives were; was this simply an act of childhood mischief, or was this act of violence targeted towards certain individuals for specific reasons?

  To buy a BB gun in Colorado, a person must present an ID and be at least eighteen years of age. How a young child acquires a weapon of significant danger is a question that sparks fear and worry in all educational establishments; with cases such as Columbine and Virginia Tech, one must think if problems such as these will progress themselves and eventually become more than a five minute story on the news if not dealt with immediately.

  As of now, it is impossible to know whether this child was simply acting mischievous or whether he needs a serious mental evaluation.  Future problems can be seen at an early age and are likely to develop into more serious and traumatic events in the future. As history has taught us, no act of violence should go unnoticed. Take the Holocaust and Columbine for example, both key players in these events had made their intentions very clear to the public beforehand and nothing was done to prevent the disasters to come.

   What needs to be done to assure that children with a violent history will not become repeat offenders in the future? Is it up to the parents to educate their children on moral and humane values at home because the education stops as soon as the student leaves the school? Or is it solely upon the school to take responsibility for the child’s education or thought process? Is a school responsible for these kinds of negligent acts or should the education of right and wrong be taught at home.

  There are mixed opinions upon both sides of the spectrum, some in support of increased school awareness and security, while others believe that parents must take it upon themselves to teach their children the repercussions of irresponsibility.

  If problems such as these are not taken into consideration, how long will it be until something like this happens again?