If you refer someone to the police, all you're going to do is teach kids to hide their feelings, to shove it down and not let it out there. And I don't think that's what we want to teach young writers."
- JIM BARNABEE, a creative-writing instructor in Lincolnshire, Ill., on the issues confronting teachers when dealing with disturbing essays and stories from students in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy; like most teachers, he has been trained to alert counselors or administrators if he thinks students might harm themselves or others
CHICAGO TRIBUNE