Bombs and Bristol

Even when I was a kid, I couldn't always figure out why kids do what they do. As an adult, it's even more perplexing. But the spate of bomb threats that has emptied out about a school a day in town for the past week and a half, landing Bristol on the tv news daily in the role of a hapless place, is clearly the result of end-of-the-school-year shenanigans from youngsters who probably don't know any better. Infuriating as the false bomb threats are, it's important that everyone remember that young people do stupid things for stupid reasons and yet somehow grow up to be responsible community leaders. Don't be too quick to call for their heads or even to blame their parents. All of us who are parents know that we can't control everything kids do, however much we might wish we could. The police and school officials will eventually track down some more of the threat-makers, no doubt, and they'll probably turn out to be not too different than the 13-year-old at Chippens Hill Middle School who is going to pay a hefty price for a moment of idiocy. But let's be level-headed about all of this. It's not like Taliban terrorists are actually planting bombs here that threaten anyone. The only threat is that we'll lose our cool and treat this spate of nonsense as hotheads instead of rational adults. Bristol is going to keep looking stupid in the news until this ends, which it will, but it doesn't have to act stupid. Get a grip, everybody. \ Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com