Heed Columbine's Lessons: Make Information Available, and Speak Out

The copycats seem to be doing just fine without the information. The rest of us could benefit from seeing what the government is hiding.

"In the depositions, you see the dynamics of the homes that produced Klebold and Harris," says Brian Rohrbough, whose son Daniel was killed at Columbine. "In the basement videos, they say exactly what they're going to do, when and how. These killers always tell other people. There's always months and months and years of planning. But we're not being allowed to use what we've learned to save other lives."

Anna, Rohrbough and the other parents are prevented by a court order from talking about the specifics in the tapes and documents. But they are crying out this week for all those who know the Chos and Klebolds and Harrises of the world to stop cowering in fear.

"The murderers who killed Lauren weren't stopped because everyone just closed up in this fear of being blamed," Anna says. "People withdraw into shadows and fear of lawsuits. We've written the laws so that the rights of one person supersede the rights of the many to live in peace and safety."

Of course, simply stating that someone seems dangerous is only the beginning of a hard road. The devotion and commitment of Virginia Tech English professor Lucinda Roy, who reached out to Cho and also referred him to counseling, was more than most of us could summon, yet still not enough.

The U.S. Secret Service, which has spent decades trying to figure out who is truly dangerous, has concluded that profiles and checklists are pretty much useless. Instead, a Secret Service study says, what works is the most old-fashioned tool of all: talk, and more talk. As many eyes as possible on the situation. And especially the gut sense that a person is dangerous.

Yet we've built a paralyzing web of laws that erode our own trust in that basic human instinct.

"So we cannot insist that someone not attend classes until he gets treatment," Anna says. "That's crazy. We need to realize that we belong to each other. We need to create empathy. Instead, we remember the murderers' names when it's the children and teachers whose names need to be remembered.

"You're part of the problem," Anna tells me. "You're not going to want to include the names, because you don't have enough room in your column."

The truth is worse: I hadn't even thought of publishing the victims' names. But Anna is right. These are their names:

Cassie Bernall, Steven Curnow, Corey DePooter, Kelly Fleming, Matthew Kechter, Dan Mauser, Daniel Rohrbough, William "Dave" Sanders, Rachel Scott, Isaiah Shoels, John Tomlin, Lauren Townsend, Kyle Velasquez.

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