Why is the taboo question never asked? Why are these schoolboy-killers targeting schools? Do they have a particular grievance with schools?
I think that the first thing that should be determined about these killers is if they can read. Not just read words, but also actually decode unfamiliar words. We have known for a long time that young students who cannot read by the end of Grade 3 start a downward slide in self-worth and start acting out. This is called in the education literature as the Matthew Effect. Unfortunately it is mainly a small percentage of boys who experience serious reading problems and these students really need dedicated decoding training in the alphabetic code, generally called phonics. There are tests that if applied early could be used to provide that special training if the school does not use it for all students, as they should.
Such a reading test applied to delinquents or school-shooters would quickly determine if they could read. Plus, check their school records. What if a pattern emerges that these criminals suffered acute school failure in their early years simply from not having been taught to read?
[Published as comment #180 https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/03/21/not-always-like-this/]