When news began to make it through St. John Parish on Thursday that a multitude of Sheriff's Office and police vehicles were on the scene at East St. John High School, an expected panic hit parents and plenty of others alike in wondering what disaster may have struck the school.

After all, it was only in recent weeks that several school shootings had been reported from around the country, even as close as New Orleans where a student recently brought a gun to school and committed suicide right outside on the grounds.

Fortunately the news here in St. John Parish wasn't so startling, and certainly not with a result that was as tragic as some of the other school situations. But even the fact that four bullets were found on the school campus, where someone apparently put them in the mailbox of a school nurse, was still enough to remind everyone the status of today's society when it comes to students and our schools.

Thankfully nothing more serious than the bullets was found, even after police officers did a metal search of the school grounds, and checked students. No guns were located, and nothing worse than the scare occurred.

St. John School officials, from Superintendent Michael Coburn on down to those on the campus, handled the situation properly by locking down the school until the proper searches were concluded.

And Sheriff's Office officials on the scene did all they could to quell the situation as well, and ensure parents that there was no further reason for alarm since no weapons were located.

But the situation again reminds us all of the state of our schools, seemingly more so in the public school sector, that parents and students are facing in this day and age.

The simple fact that we have students, who most likely were to blame, who thought it was a funny practical joke to put the bullets in the nurse's mailbox, says a lot in itself about where things are today.

Our problem today continues to start at home, not at the schools. And it continues to lie in the hands of parents, not in law enforcement, which reacts as quickly as they can to these situations.

As long as we have students who are growing up in a culture and society where guns are glorified in music, and as long as we have parents who don't provide enough discipline at home to make their kids realize they must completely obey the rules at the schools where they attend, we will have these incidents continue to happen.

Clearly there is no way a school could stop a student from sneaking a few bullets into the school if they want. And obviously a student could easily deposit those bullets somewhere to make trouble, if they so decide to do that.

You never heard about this happening 50 years ago, or for that matter, even 20 years ago. But today it is not unusual to hear about bullets, or guns, or other weapons, appearing in our schools.

That continues to be the problem originating in our homes. And as long as parents want to pass the buck for that to someone else, the problem will not get any better.