Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how ma

On a quiet autumn afternoon last year my phone rang and startled me out of my moment of concentration. “Carole, lock all of your doors and don’t come outside,” the panicked voice of my next door neighbor blurted over the telephone. Completely puzzled, I asked her what on earth she was talking about. “Haven’t you heard the helicopter buzzing above your backyard? They haven’t caught him yet.” “Caught who?” I asked in bewilderment. “The teenage boy up the street who threatened someone with a knife. The police are trying to find him and he may very well be in your wooded backyard! School is still in session and I’m concerned where he might go next.”

Sure enough a helicopter circled my property, looped around and then flew over other homes on their search and seize mission. By now I was completely confused and alarmed that this out-of-control teenager could be hiding right outside my back porch. I called the local police, asked them what was going on, and was given very little information. They merely told me to stay inside my house if I felt unsafe. The police were concerned that this teenager might head to the nearby school, within walking distance of my home.

By late afternoon, the excitement had quieted down, the boy had been apprehended, and my neighborhood’s drama was one for the record books.

Just one thing. The incident never made the newspapers, wasn’t featured on our local news broadcast, and was quietly and firmly silenced as my suburban Boston community settled back into its sleepy existence.

Another Boston suburban community is also trying to quiet the fears from a recent violent incident. Yet they couldn’t hide behind the cloak of secrecy since one of their own had committed the unthinkable crime.

Just a few weeks ago a 16 year-old Sudbury, Massachusetts high school sophomore allegedly brought a knife to school and stabbed a 15 year old to death. The killer had been teased at school for wearing a trench coat, just like the killers of Columbine High School. He had trouble fitting in, and suffered from Asperger disease, a mild form of autism.

Two suburban incidences. One that ended in mystery. One that ended in murder. Both involved violent young boys with unchecked behavioral patterns in communities far outside of Boston’s urban center. The incident in my town never hit the newspaper. The murder in Sudbury flooded the newspapers with expressions of shock, anguish, and bewilderment.

My friends, colleagues, and fellow subscribers: Youth violence isn’t just an inner city issue. Youth violence is an all-too common occurrence all over our society. It’s as much a suburban problem as it is an urban one.

Most of the recent school killings involve suburban or rural schools NOT inner city ones. As early as 1997 in Bethel, Alaska, 16 years old Evan Ramsey killed his principal and one student. In 1997 in Paducah, Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how man

en flew over other homes on their search and seize mission. By now I was completely confused and alarmed that this out-of-control teenager could be hiding right outside my back porch. I called the local police, asked them what was going on, and was given very little information. They merely told me to stay inside my house if I felt unsafe. The police were concerned that this teenager might head to the nearby school, within walking distance of my home.

By late afternoon, the excitement had quieted down, the boy had been apprehended, and my neighborhood’s drama was one for the record books.

Just one thing. The incident never made the newspapers, wasn’t featured on our local news broadcast, and was quietly and firmly silenced as my suburban Boston community settled back into its sleepy existence.

Another Boston suburban community is also trying to quiet the fears from a recent violent incident. Yet they couldn’t hide behind the cloak of secrecy since one of their own had committed the unthinkable crime.

Just a few weeks ago a 16 year-old Sudbury, Massachusetts high school sophomore allegedly brought a knife to school and stabbed a 15 year old to death. The killer had been teased at school for wearing a trench coat, just like the killers of Columbine High School. He had trouble fitting in, and suffered from Asperger disease, a mild form of autism.

Two suburban incidences. One that ended in mystery. One that ended in murder. Both involved violent young boys with unchecked behavioral patterns in communities far outside of Boston’s urban center. The incident in my town never hit the newspaper. The murder in Sudbury flooded the newspapers with expressions of shock, anguish, and bewilderment.

My friends, colleagues, and fellow subscribers: Youth violence isn’t just an inner city issue. Youth violence is an all-too common occurrence all over our society. It’s as much a suburban problem as it is an urban one.

Most of the recent school killings involve suburban or rural schools NOT inner city ones. As early as 1997 in Bethel, Alaska, 16 years old Evan Ramsey killed his principal and one student. In 1997 in Paducah, Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how ma

firmly silenced as my suburban Boston community settled back into its sleepy existence.

Another Boston suburban community is also trying to quiet the fears from a recent violent incident. Yet they couldn’t hide behind the cloak of secrecy since one of their own had committed the unthinkable crime.

Just a few weeks ago a 16 year-old Sudbury, Massachusetts high school sophomore allegedly brought a knife to school and stabbed a 15 year old to death. The killer had been teased at school for wearing a trench coat, just like the killers of Columbine High School. He had trouble fitting in, and suffered from Asperger disease, a mild form of autism.

Two suburban incidences. One that ended in mystery. One that ended in murder. Both involved violent young boys with unchecked behavioral patterns in communities far outside of Boston’s urban center. The incident in my town never hit the newspaper. The murder in Sudbury flooded the newspapers with expressions of shock, anguish, and bewilderment.

My friends, colleagues, and fellow subscribers: Youth violence isn’t just an inner city issue. Youth violence is an all-too common occurrence all over our society. It’s as much a suburban problem as it is an urban one.

Most of the recent school killings involve suburban or rural schools NOT inner city ones. As early as 1997 in Bethel, Alaska, 16 years old Evan Ramsey killed his principal and one student. In 1997 in Paducah, Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how ma

ended in murder. Both involved violent young boys with unchecked behavioral patterns in communities far outside of Boston’s urban center. The incident in my town never hit the newspaper. The murder in Sudbury flooded the newspapers with expressions of shock, anguish, and bewilderment.

My friends, colleagues, and fellow subscribers: Youth violence isn’t just an inner city issue. Youth violence is an all-too common occurrence all over our society. It’s as much a suburban problem as it is an urban one.

Most of the recent school killings involve suburban or rural schools NOT inner city ones. As early as 1997 in Bethel, Alaska, 16 years old Evan Ramsey killed his principal and one student. In 1997 in Paducah, Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how ma

Kentucky 14 year old Michael Carneal killed three students and wounded five others. Who can ever forget the 1999 killing spree of 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 years old Dylan Klebold who slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School. And last September in Cazenovia, Wisconsin a 15 year old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang.

Far too often we are too quick to condemn the violent actions of urban youth without examining what’s going on in our suburbs and rural communities. They are hurting too, despite how forgiving the media can be when an enraged teenagers takes out their murderous anger on unsuspecting students.

I wonder how many more kids will have to die before suburban-rural community leaders and school officials stop burying their heads in the sand and realize that real security measures are needed now to protect the innocent. It’s time to install medal detectors and hire security guards in schools like Sudbury High, just like they have in Boston’s Jeremiah Burke High.

Young people are complicated, inquisitive, and filled with potential. Left unchecked they can blow up in a million pieces, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The destruction can happen in midst of the inner city, in a pristine suburb or right next to a cornfield. Unchecked behavior is unchecked behavior wherever you live. It’s time for American communities to wake up to the reality of exploding youth violence.

It’s not an urban problem. It’s a nationwide dilemma.