By Harold Keller-Get High on Life

Last week, two students from Dutchtown High School in Ascension Parish were arrested on charges of terrorizing. Adam Sinclair, 19, and Christopher Levins, 17, are accused of plotting to re-enact the Colombine High School massacre that left 15 people dead on April 20, 1999.

Even though some people shrugged off the arrest as only a scheme to get attention, thank God some concerned parents, students and the sheriff’s department took it as a serious threat.

It is not a coincident that the two Dutchtown students’ interest and behavior were similar to that of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris who masterminded the Colombine tragedy. Could what happened at Colombine have been prevented if parents of the two recognized the danger signals? After the fact, students were quick to express the rebellious behavior of both evil-minded young people. Dylan and Eric did telegraph how twisted their thinking had become, but no one intercepted the messages they were sending loud and clear.

What did Adam Sinclair and Christopher Levins have in common with Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris? Their dress- black trench coats and combat boots, their music- interest in heavy metal, their identification with the trench coat mafia- a small group at Colombine High School, and their infatuation with the number “666”- the sign of the anti-Christ. A 17-year-old student at Dutchtown told the news media that the music Sinclair listened to was like he worshiped the devil.

Evidently, the people in Ascension Parish learned a lesson form Colombine. All of us should learn a lesson from the Dutchtown High School arrest. We all should be aware that young people send a message by the way they dress, the music they listen to and their hair styles.

Is it all right to judge people who are different? No, but we should allow the lines of communication to be open at both ends.

To the sheriff’s department and the people in the Dutchtown community: Thank your for being aware and concerned enough to take action.

HAROLD KELLER writes this column as part of his affiliation with the Get High on Life religious motivational organization. Call 652-8477 or write to P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084.