As stories continue to mount about deadly attacks in American schools, we become increasingly frustrated about how to head off such inexplicable tragedies.

There is no surefire way to keep killers, young or old, individual or in groups, from rampaging through school halls and on campuses. Those with aberrant minds and motives seemingly have the potential to strike almost anywhere no matter how watchful we may be.

Except, it seems, when alert people are willing to step forward when they see something amiss and notify those who can do something about it. As it turns out, there is nothing more effective in these cases than citizen involvement.

Take a recent case at a Lawrence junior high where a youngster, for whatever reason, brought a firearm onto school property, posing a serious potential for trouble. A student at the school (understandably not identified) took notice of the situation and informed the proper sources. The youngster was apprehended without serious incident. Recently, a group of third-graders in an American school seemed to be planning harm against a teacher. An alert informant blunted such an effort and helped to take charge of the perpetrators.

Superintendent Randy Weseman said the Lawrence case was a textbook example of proper reporting and correct handling. The same occurred with the third-graders. While we cannot be so fortunate in all cases, we can learn from incidents such as these and perhaps deal better with later threats.

As analysts study tragedies such as those in a Colorado high school or on the Virginia Tech campus, they can formulate possible ways to prevent future tragedies – knowing full well there is no perfect solution.

But student, faculty and citizen awareness and involvement can certainly sidetrack and apprehend potential troublemakers, as the Lawrence junior high incident vividly illustrated. Bottom line, this may be the most effective prevention tool we have.