There was a time when it was not unusual to hear someone say, "My child wouldn't do that." Rarely do you hear that said now. Too many children have done things their parents never dreamed they would do. Their parents are left asking, "Why."

The same question is repeated across our country. In Bainbridge Island, Wash., sixth-grade girls attempted to poison their teacher. It was well known that the teacher was severely allergic to strawberries. The girls coated the rim of her coffee cup and water bottle with strawberry lip gloss. They were expelled from school and arrested.

The usual question was asked, "Why?" Their answer was that they had not finished their homework. They did not want the teacher to die; they just wanted her to be sick until they could complete the assignment.

Fourth-grade students, two girls and two boys, slipped a combination of shoe polish, perfume, window cleaner and other things into a classmate's drink. "Why?" She got the best grades in the class. They considered her the teacher's pet.

In Massachusetts, three middle school students put cleaning solvent in their teacher's water. In a private high school in Santa Monica, students put rat poison in a teacher's cup.

We may have breathed a sigh of relief because those things happened far away from here. Regretfully, that is not always the case.

Last week, there was an incident reported locally that two girls, students at Johnston Elementary, were alleged to have attempted to poison their teacher. They are charged with reckless conduct. Once again, the question is, "Why?

In Melbourne, Fla., a train struck and killed three girls who were walking across a railroad trestle. They were all juveniles. A boy who was with them made it across the bridge, heard the train coming behind them and tried to warn them. They were unable to get out of the way in time. Why were they so reckless when their lives were at stake?

In Gloucester, Mass., some believe there was a pact made by 17 teenage girls to get pregnant and raise their children together. The news of their pregnancies was greeted with high-fives by their classmates, and they began planning baby showers for one another. The high school principal identified them as sophomores. What were they thinking?

In Pennsylvania, it was reported that a group of teenagers made a pact to commit suicide. They were to meet at an Amtrak track. Three came. Two of them got on the track facing the train and were killed. The third changed her mind at the last minute.

Again, those things were far away from us. But as we know, that is not always the case.

Recently, we have learned of an alleged teen suicide pact of two Teasley Middle School students, resulting in the death of one of the girls. That brought it home to us.

According to news reports, the girls had planned to kill themselves together, but the other student did not do it. Allegedly she supplied the gun her classmate used to end her life. Again we ask, "Why?"

Many think they know the answer to "Why?" It has many parts. Television, movies and electronic games desensitize our society. In one movie, a pregnant teen sees the solution to her problem as simply squeezing the baby out and going on with her life.

Others cite children choosing poor role models. That we cannot deny. It may be drug-taking movie stars or athletes with alley-cat morals. They may mimic bad-news siblings, unstable friends or a musical group like the one that sings "Suicide is Sexy."

For many, it is their own parents. I recall an incident from my tenure with the school system when a parent was called to come to an elementary school to bring his son a shirt. The shirt the child was wearing had an obscene slogan on it. The father arrived with another shirt for the boy. The father was wearing a cap. The same obscene slogan was on the father's cap as was on the T-shirt his son had worn to school.

A few weeks ago, a man with a grudge against the Internal Revenue Service intentionally crashed a plane into an IRS office building. Multiple workers were injured and one person was killed. The daughter of the pilot said her father was a hero because of what he had done.

The list of reasons people give for children doing horrendous things to themselves and others continues.

Today's parents do not closely monitor their children's activities. Children are starved for love and attention. Others cite the minimal consequences sometimes given to juveniles. Courts and school systems have hard decisions to make, like should fourth-graders be permanently banned from school or jailed when they attempt to poison another student?

And, of course, peer pressure is a big factor. Such might be the case with the 17 high school sophomores who were reported to have made a pact to get pregnant and raise their children together. Some probably just went along with the crowd.

Now the question is "How?" How do we prevent things like these from happening?

Frankly, I do not know the answer. As is often the case, I understand the problem. But I do not know the solution.

But, I do know that no one should feel comfortable saying, "My child wouldn't do that."

Marguerite Cline is a former county school superintendent.