by Mike Males

About the author: Mike Males is the author of The Scapegoat Generation: America’s War on Adolescents and Framing Youth: 10 Myths About the Next Generation.

Two weeks after the school massacre in Littleton, Colorado, anguished parents in a California suburb where murder is also rare found such tragedy “can happen here.” A 39-year-old man drove his Cadillac into a crowded preschool playground in Costa Mesa, killing a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old, leaving two small children in critical condition and injuring two more toddlers and an adult aide. His motive seemed to be incomprehensible rage: The driver was quoted by police as remorselessly seeking to execute “innocent children” because of a former girlfriend’s rejection.

But while the shootings in Littleton and schools around...