Postscript to the Amish Entry

I was talking to a woman at work last week and she spouted one of those clichés that make my teeth itch. We were talking about the Amish school shootings and she said something like, “Think of all those poor innocent children.” I couldn’t talk for a minute as I swallowed the response that came to mind right away

I understand that people have been conditioned to spew this kind of tripe any time a child is involved in a horrific news story, and I indicated in my previous post how relevant I think the ages of the victims are, but here's my other question:

Are there guilty children? I mean, are there children who, if they had been involved in the Pennsylvania shootings, would have produced the following statement?

"Well, Roberts killed five little girls. That Amundson girl's a real shame, that's for sure. But don't feel bad about the other four. They had it coming."

Do we need the "innocent" in that equation? Can someone, no matter their age, have earned that? Can we cut the crap here?

Sorry. Pet peeve taking control again.