Avoiding The Blame Game

Your reporter is still reflecting on what he saw and heard in Littleton, Colorado, in the aftermath of the shooting at Columbine High School one week ago today.

We can be certain that, among the people wondering what can be done to prevent such tragedies in the future -- and whether anything could have been done in the past to prevent this tragedy -- are the parents of the boys accused of the shootings.

Some investigators, analysts, and government officials have suggested that, yes, the parents should have known and should have been able to do something to prevent the tragedy.

Those same investigators, analysts, and officials are a little less quick to speak when it is pointed out that they, too, may bear some responsibility, and may have had ample opportunity to stop the accused shooters before they ever took a single life.

There exists the unpleasant possibility that a blame-game is starting – instead of a sincere attempt to understand a human catastrophe.

And all the while, the parents of two boys are trying to cope with a reality that is very far from anything they can have hoped or dreamed for their sons. Psychologists tell us that these parents will find it difficult to grieve for their children, because of the pain and suffering their children are believed to have caused.

That's worth thinking about -- if only because compassion may be one of the best ways to prevent violence.