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I think these folks have some serious denial. It may not have been their fault, but their son was their responsibility. They obviously failed on some level.

This is an age-old problem with no simple answer, IMO.

I recently had occasion to revisit a small, regional evancelical church I used to attend. It has since grown into a massive southern California mega church in the ten years I've been gone.

The pastor is one of the finest teachers of God's Word I've ever encountered. Still. He's lost nothing of his ability to teach as I discovered last Sunday after many years of being away.

But, during the years of church growth, he steadfastly held to the principle that if you pour the Word of God into your kids, you will raise Godly children. And, of course, the flip side of this corollary is that if you fail to do this, your kids will stumble.

Well, fast forward ten years. His oldest daughter -- just turned 30 had a baby out of wedlock. The youngest girl just got tossed out of a local Southern California university for poor grades due to an arrest for possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell. His two sons are in their mid-20s. And in an article in a local paper in 2001, he swore they would be the first to enlist to defend America after 9/11. Three years later, they are laying around the house all day and drag racing up and down the local boulevard all night.

Now, it could be that you can do the devotions and pour the Word of God into your kids and they will still go out there and screw up. It could very well be just that simple. Certainly these young people are responsible for their own actions.

Or, it could be that, as children, they just didn't respond to the cubbyhole they were slammed into by a father who worked 18-hour days, 6-day weeks, to build this massive church. Kids know when they're being chucked aside. And maybe a half-hour every day for a quick devotional just wasn't enough. ("Here's the Word of God, kid. Now get out of my face, while I build my church.") How's the old saying go? You can fool a fool, but you can't kid a kid.

So, I don't know the answer. At what point do parents become negligent? At what further point do they become responsible for a Klebold/Harris bloodbath?

I only know adult children who have been screwing up and sluffing off better take a good hard look in the mirror. And parents who indulge them better do the same. Beyond that, I have no answers.

At what point do parents become negligent? At what further point do they become responsible for a Klebold/Harris bloodbath?

I agree; there are no easy answers. I know parents far more neglegent than those of Harris and Klebold whose offspring have exceeded society's expectations.

I don't think the Harris' or Klebolds deserved the children they had. No one does. I just believe that as the parents of minor children who plan and carry out a mass murder, these people need to accept some level of responsibility.

YES! YOU DO KNOW THE ANSWER.

It's right here:

Or, it could be that, as children, they just didn't respond to the cubbyhole they were slammed into by a father who worked 18-hour days, 6-day weeks, to build this massive church. Kids know when they're being chucked aside. And maybe a half-hour every day for a quick devotional just wasn't enough. ("Here's the Word of God, kid. Now get out of my face, while I build my church.") How's the old saying go? You can fool a fool, but you can't kid a kid.

No doubt.

nada, zip. No doubt.

I don't even have to know more than that.