Failing to see danger signs results in tragedy -- again

If there is a lesson to be learned from the shootings at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, it is that we as a nation learned very little from the mass murders at Columbine High School in Colorado -- or that whatever we learned, we forgot.
A week ago, Jeff Weise, 16, killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion, then drove to school where he shot to death five students, a security guard and a teacher before he killed himself.
Nearly six years ago, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a murderous rampage at Columbine High School, killing a teacher, 12 students and themselves.
Even though there had been a number of other school shootings leading up to Columbine, the murders there still shocked the nation because of the numbers, the planning involved and the cold-blooded methods of the killers.
Quick answers
In the immediate aftermath, people were eager to blame the Internet, video games, detached parents, violent movies, a permissive society, high school bullies and intolerance at various levels.
It was surprising to some to learn that Klebold and Harris came from intact middle-class families. They were eccentric to the point of becoming murderous in spite of being children of advantage. Whatever clues they gave to their potential for violence were largely ignored.
Jeff Weise grew up in the Twin Cities area and moved to the Red Lake Indian reservation after his father killed himself during a police standoff and his mother was severely injured in a car accident. He had attempted suicide. He was being treated and medicated for depression. He was placed in alternative education for a period of time.
The few friends he had knew of his fascination with violence, a few even sitting with him weeks ago while he fast-forwarded through a movie inspired by Columbine, taking delight in the most violent parts.
He openly wrote on the Internet of his violent and suicidal tendencies. He dressed, like Klebold and Harris, in Goth fashion and frequented Nazi Web sites.
And yet, despite all that, Weise was able to kill his police-officer grandfather, arm himself and walk into school, where he single-handedly managed to kill and wound nearly as many people on impulse as Klebold and Harris did together with planning.
No more excuses
Society could be excused for being surprised at the attacks at Columbine. There are no excuses for Red Lake.
Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, guidance counselors, doctors -- all must be more vigilant in dealing with youngsters, especially those who demonstrate anti-social behavior and markedly low self-esteem.
There are no single answers and no short cuts to protecting students and teachers from Klebolds or Harrises or Weises. Or to protect violent students from themselves. But there is a responsibility to do so.
The price of failing in that responsibility -- the responsibility to recognize danger signs, to provide treatment, to monitor the activity of potentially violent students and to make it difficult if not impossible for such students to get access to firearms -- is terribly high. Just ask the parents in Minnesota who are mourning today as the parents in Colorado did six years ago.