All the National Networks begin their stories with "30 miles from Columbine....................." and then tell about the events here. They make it sound like we are right next door to Littleton. The miles are not that many, but the environment is millions of miles apart.

I just finished watching a long story about Columbine on CBS......talking to the parents of the Columbine victims, etc.

Perhaps I've overreacted, but Bailey has an identity in itself and we are NOT just an off shoot of Columbine. Our tragedy is just as heartbreaking as Columbine and I feel that we are being trivialized in comparison to Columbine.

Ok, I feel better now.

Well I feel your frustration Daisy Lover, the media just can't get any "good news" on our the Bailey tragedy and want to play it up to keep up the ratings so they throw a little of a different tragedy in the pot to stir it up a little, they are just buying there time until the can get an interview with some of the family. Luckily the Town of Bailey is protecting the privacy of the family and not letting the press any where near the homes of the victims! They are effectively warding off the press and there for the press is using what they have to keep peoples attention as long as they can, I am glad that they don't have any thing else to report about this story, means the citizens of Bailey are doing a great job in protecting the privacy of all those involved...however the press is a cunning adversary and will stop at nothing, they are sub-human scum...

We are Bailey.

You are absolutely not overreacting. For them to compare the two incidents is absolutely unacceptable. They are not remotely similar especially if you put aside that they both happened in a school. My heart and prayers are with you.

Yeah, anyone see headline news last night, it says "Columbine now Bailey, is Colorado in Trouble"? I think not, thoughts and prayers to the family, she was a good little waitress we just had her couple weeks ago, very nice girl, Now everyone knows where I graduated from.

The ONLY point of similarity is the school and it really frosts me to see the news people comparing the two. Comparing Bailey and Littleton are like comparing apples and bread.

Daisy - you are NOT overreacting and I wish they would all leave off.

Daisy Lover, you aren't overreacting at all. I feel the same way.

I think the media is comparing the two schools (and other schools too) only to make a point on how easy it is for crazy people to get into a school and kill. Columbine and Bailey are similiar only in the fact that innocent children were killed. Something has to be done to protect these children! I think they should assign "card keys" to all the kids and keep the doors locked at all time. Also having a receptionist at the front door would help too. Just my thoughts.

In the eyes of the nation, it's Colorado, it's a Denver burb and it's a school shooting. It's inevitable that the ties\similarities are going to link the incidents in the eyes of the nation.

Wow! I couldn't have said it better myself!!

Two of my nieces were students at Columbine when that incident occurred. My brother's family all knew Dylan from his involvement in theater. Both girls were shot at but physically unharmed. The older one subsequently traveled around the country as part of a group from Columbine giving support to victims of other school shootings. She is now a college student in Seattle. Here's her reaction (from her blog with names edited out). It speaks volumes:

"I'm not exactly sure what to write, but I feel like I need to, so I'll just keep typing. Yesterday, at about 12:30, I picked up my phone to check my messages. There were a few missed calls from [my boyfriend}, so I called my voice mail to see what he wanted. The message was frantic, telling me that his entire family was calling him, telling him that there was a shooting at Platte Canyon High School. [My boyfriend] graduated from there, and his younger brother still attended. [His brother} was fine, had called [my boyfriend] personally to check in, so we had a lot to be thankful for. I left school early, as there was no way I'd be able to concentrate for the rest of the day. I picked [my boyfriend] up, and we drove home to Federal Way, so we could watch CNN. It was so hard to be so far away, when we knew the national news coverage wouldn't compare to what we could be watching at home in Denver. We watched for three hours, and then couldn't tear ourselves away as it came to it's violent conclusion. It was so difficult to watch [my boyfriend] sit there, with so many of the familiar expressions and feelings washing over him. I just wanted to take it away, make it untrue. We were waiting to hear the names of the hostages, the gunman. The poor girl who passed away. Bailey is such a small community, and [my boyfriend] knew many of the faces and names that were being scrolled across the screen.

In the end, the details have come out. And the answers grow increasingly more twisted and heartbreaking. My heart goes out to the entire community, thrust into the spotlight without warning for an ugly crime. I remember the pain and anger that will linger for months to come. The fear the students will face everyday walking back into a school that once kept them safe. It sickened me yesterday, watching the news media make countless references to Columbine. At one point, they even flashed a map showing the distance in miles between the two schools. It was so disrespectful. Why couldn't we have even a moment to honor THIS school, THESE students, without dredging up the memories of another tragedy? While I understand more than most what has happened here, and the feelings of the students and parents involved, this isn't about Columbine. It's about Platte Canyon High School. It's about Emily Keyes. I would ask everyone who reads this to take a moment, to remember a young girl who died at the hands of a sick man. And to pray or send good wishes to the community in Bailey. God bless them."

I too am a little frustrated with the comparison of Columbine. I am sorry Larry that you had to endure the tragedy at Columbine. I live and work within 5 miles of there. And though I did not personally know anyone there it effected me deeply as does the Platte Canyon shooting. The only real similarities I see are a gun, a school and a community wounded. I do not think we can ever 100% protect or children, but I also do not think we can be the cause of them living their lives in fear, that's not living. We all as a community need to do the best we can, but God too has his plan. My heart goes out to the community, the Keyes family, the Sheriff and SWAT depts, the other hostages, but a special prayer to the one girl who will need the most support and compassion. The one child that was a victim, but also a witness to horrors no child (or person) should ever have to see in their life time. I give prayers and support to the surviving hostage that was there in the final moments with Emily. Bless you and let God be your strength to make your burden lighter or take it way completely. You have people that have never met you praying for you today and feeling sorrow for what you have had to endure. I stand ever vigilant and supportive to a beautiful community, state and country.