Looking for answers after a tragedy such as that which occurred at Columbine High School in Colorado often leads to a tendency to blame. It's tempting. Blame the gun lobby, blame the popular culture, blame the school, blame the family. And some of the blame is probably deserved. According to media reports, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were obsessed with the violent video game Doom¬an interactive game in which the players try to rack up the most kills¬and played it every afternoon. They were fascinated by Nazi culture and committed their crime on Hitler's birthday, after having given fair warning on Harris' web site. Klebold habitually wore a T-shirt that bore the title "Serial Killer."

Of the overwhelming mass of material we have read since the terrible event, two struck us as worth passing on. One is from an article by Sharon Begley in the May 3 edition of Newsweek. The article is entitled "Why the Young Kill" and in it Ms. Begley examines not only the Colorado massacre, but others which have occurred in this country in the past 10 years. At the end of her article she says: "The good news is that understanding the roots of violence offers clues on how to prevent it. The bad news is that ever more children are exposed to the influences that, in the already vulnerable, can produce a bent toward murder. Juvenile homicide is twice as common today as it was in the mid-1980s. It isn't the brains kids are born with that has changed in half a generation; what has changed is the ubiquity of violence, the easy access to guns and the glorification of revenge in real life and in entertainment. To deny the role of these influences is like denying that air pollution triggers childhood asthma. Yes, to develop asthma a child needs a specific, biological vulnerability, but as long as some children have this respiratory vulnerability¬and some always will¬then allowing pollution to fill our air will make some children wheeze and cough and die. And as long as some children have a neurological vulnerability¬and some always will¬then turning a blind eye to bad parenting, bullying and the gun culture will make other children seethe, and withdraw, and kill."

The other article of value was on the front page of the April 27 edition of The New York Times. It is an interview with the mother of Mitchell Johnson of Jonesboro, Arkansas, the boy who, with a friend killed four students and a teacher. His mother has a younger son and she told the interviewer that she considered moving after the tragedy because she feared repercussions against him. On the contrary, she said children in school came up to him and assured him that they didn't blame him for what his brother had done. They showed remarkable sympathy for him. His mother had the same experience. People were kind and neighborly. It brings tears to one's eyes to see someone who expects cruelty and receives brotherly love.

This week State Senator Michael Balboni and Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli announced that they will jointly introduce legislation that will assure that young children do not have access to violent video games and that the purchase of such games is strictly monitored. Teachers in Manhasset Schools are calling for an increase in counseling in school (see Letters). These things are good. It will be necessary to use all the weapons in our arsenal. But perhaps the most potent weapon we have is "Love thy neighbor as thyself"¬tough love, if need be, but still, love.

E.F.B.