What happened Thursday at Keith High School could not have been a more serious offense.

True, the gun carried to school by a student was not loaded, but the mere fact this student — this juvenile offender — thought it was a good idea to carry a weapon to school in the first place is troubling.

In writing this today we are in no way saying what happened in Orrville happens every day. What we are trying to point out is there is a mindset in some youth today that rules are simply words on a piece of paper and that the consequences of their actions are immaterial.

You see this in nearly every arrest report, every incident report and on the courthouse dockets.

And even though the problems of youth crime remain a problem, there are those who would claim the bonds set by judges on certain cases are far too high, in fact calling them excessive.

But what can we do? What is the next idea?

Because most things up to this point have had only marginal success in curtailing crime, curtailing drug use and limiting the prevalence of gang activity.

If not hitting them in the wallet, then what?

The point is this; we cannot expect the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, the Selma Police Department, the District Attorney, the courts or our educators to raise our children; to teach them right from wrong.

That is a job for the parents, the grandparents, aunts or uncles.

It is not the job of law enforcement to teach morality, but rather enforce the rules based on morals.

It is not the job of our principals and teachers to confiscate firearms, but rather teach the lessons that will advance a child’s knowledge and allow them to have a better life.

The circumstances around how a gun found its way into one of our schools may never be publicized, but the idea a young man thought it was either a good idea or something he could get away with is not the fault of his education, but rather a fault of his upbringing.