We feel that the press coverage of the horrific incident at Columbine High School was commendable. The media has helped many people understand the tragedy by showing others how to cope and showing the parents signs of growing violent teenagers.

Since the shootings, every suspicious group was looked at under the microscope. This is not a bad thing, as it is always better to be safe than sorry. However, we would like to inform everyone that the Fairview Cult is not a group to feel threatened of.

The Fairview Cult was started a few years ago by a few students at Fairview High School as a joke. The joke was simple - to scare teachers and parents into thinking that there was a real cult in Fairview. The irony was that no real cult or dangerous group would call itself a "cult."

Needles to say, the Fairview Cult grew in popularity in the next few months. We printed tee-shirts and carried on the joke. We made a web site which was designed to look scary. And then the joke was forgotten.

Last week, WOIO Channel 19 found this old web site and reported on it; other stations soon followed. We were compared to the Trench Coat Mafia and called Satanists, pagans and many other things. We would like to report that we are not witches, Satanists, or even a real cult. In fact most members belong to various popular Christian faiths around the community and take these very seriously.

We admit the Fairview Cult started off as a joke to scare everybody. However, we do know when to stop joking around. Right now, after the heinous killings, is one of these times. We do not want Fairview High School or the community of Fairview Park associated with, by any means, the recent shootings. This would be an incorrect representation of our small community, which is filled with plenty of good people.

Our media exposure came at very bad time because of the upcoming school levy. We feel that all of the teachers and staff at the Fairview Park City Schools give one hundred and ten percent. They truly care about the well being of all the students. We feel terrible that we misrepresented the schools like this and hope it does not effect the community from passing the upcoming levy. We believe education is very important: it keeps kids out of trouble and prepares them for the real world.

We would also like to urge the news media to focus on the good students of Fairview High School. Perhaps if the media would start paying more attention to those who truly represent our community, other troubled and confused students would realize that there are other ways to prove to the world that they are important.

Perhaps if the local news channels throughout the country were to start a series on local charity groups and how easy they are to join. By not awarding troubled kids with any more attention, we might be able to save lives in the future. We congratulate and commend all of the news channels who have segments like these.

We apologize for the trouble we have indirectly caused the board of education, superintendent, teachers, students, and especially the community of Fairview Park.