Eddie. Kelly. I know it's hard to understand that two kids could walk into their own school and start killing other kids. It breaks my heart to have to tell you that it could happen even here in Medina. And I can't give you any easy answers as to how we can keep it from happening here. But maybe we can figure out a couple things that might work.

First and foremost, you have to talk to your parents and your teachers when kids make threats. I'm not talking about when Johnny tosses a snowball down Jimmy's back and Jimmy yells out, "I'm gonna kill you!" There are already enough folks out there who would like to turn our halls of learning into mini-prisons. I'm talking about when the threats get specific.

If Jimmy tells Johnny he's gonna get his dad's semi-automatic rifle--bought, no doubt, for the sheer fun of it--and blow Johnny away, that's something you need to tell me about.

If Jimmy tells someone he's gonna blow up the school or that he's made a "hit list" of students and teachers he wants to kill, that's also something you need to tell me about.

If Jimmy starts talking about getting rid of blacks or gays or Jews, if he praises mass murderers like Hitler, if he tells you he knows how to build a bomb, if he says he's brought a gun to school, if he actually you shows you a gun, these are all things you need to tell me about immediately.

And not just me. You have to tell your teachers immediately. And we have to tell Jimmy's parents and the police. That tired old "there were no warning signs" excuse just doesn't cut it anymore. There were lots of warning signs in Colorado, but not enough people willing to heed them.

I've tried to teach you that we all have to share this world, that different doesn't automatically mean bad, that everyone should be treated fairly. I know it can be confusing to live up to what I'm saying, especially when you're also being exposed to the casual racism of some of your relatives and the tolerance of that racism by too many of your other relatives. You can still love them, but you also have to understand how wrong they are.

For my part, I can promise you that when you come to me with your fears I will act on them. I'll talk to your school and I'll talk to the other parents. And, if comes to that, I'll talk to the police. Better ruffled feathers than the terrible consequences of ignoring the warning signs.

I promise you there will be zero tolerance for intolerance in our home. When fingers point in the aftermath of a tragedy, they need linger much longer on the underlying alienation, hatred, and resentment that so often fuel these tragedies.

I promise you I will not ignore any warning signs that I see in you, as much as it pains me to think of my own children in such ways. I will--given reasonable cause--invade your privacy to learn what you do. I will--no matter how embarrassing this may prove--be a part of every part of your lives. I will--no, I won't back off--know who your friends are and what kind of young people they are. With the great privilege of parenthood comes great responsibility. No matter how much it annoys you...and it will.

I promise you I will do my best to protect you and to raise you to be better adults than we have been...and to pray that your children will not have to share their classrooms with the fear of Littleton and West Paducah and Jonesboro and the others. There are no acceptable losses in this war.

And, most of all, I promise I will always love you. I have to believe love will ultimately prove stronger than the hatred around us. Abandon that belief and we are all lost.

Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined

Introduction
"My Back Pages" (September 22, 2001)

Part One
"My Heroes Have Always Been Heroes" (March 24, 1995)

Part Two
"There Are Heroes Among Us" (April 5, 1995)

Part Three
"Heroes and Hope" (April 10, 1995)

Part Four
"Crisis of Faith" (April 19, 1995)

Part Five
"Oklahoma City" (April 26, 1995)

Part Six
"Making It Right" (May 16, 1995)

Part Seven
"Columbine High School" (May 4, 1999)

Afterword
"Unfinished Business" (September 23, 2001)