Waycross — As authorities try to prosecute three young children accused of plotting to attack their third-grade teacher, criminal and child psychiatry experts said Wednesday it's doubtful students that young intended to seriously hurt anyone and probably wouldn't have executed their plans.

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Waycross police say the third-graders at Center Elementary School brought a broken steak knife, steel handcuffs, duct tape and a crystal paperweight to school after hatching an elaborate plan to knock their teacher unconscious, then restrain and stab her.

Nine children were involved overall, police said, with some of them assigned specific roles such as covering classroom windows and cleaning up any mess.

Police say the children were apparently angry after the teacher disciplined one of the students for standing on a chair.

The district attorney is seeking juvenile charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault against three of the children: an 8-year-old boy and two girls, ages 9 and 10. The girls are also charged with bringing weapons to school.

Experts said children that age are certainly imaginative and capable of creating elaborate games. But Dr. Louis Kraus, a child psychiatry expert, said he doubts they would have actually attacked.

"The reality is it is highly unlikely they would have been successful at this," said Kraus of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "Even if it had begun, it's unclear whether they actually would have followed through with it."

Most premeditated acts of student violence in schools usually don't occur until high school, Kraus said. Younger children have been known to bring knives or other weapons to school, experts said, but often it's more a matter of showing off or acting tough than part of a deliberate assault attempt.

Most children under the age of 12 don't generally experience the kind of long-standing anger necessary for that kind of premeditation, said Dan Mears, an associate professor at Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

"Kids tend to be more spontaneous," Mears said. "If they're angry, they act on it right then."

News of the alleged plot spread quickly through this small south Georgia city on the northern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, where residents are preparing for their annual SwampFest celebration this weekend.

Residents said they were stunned to hear of children planning an attack at one of their own schools.

"They were so young, I just couldn't believe it," said Euleathia Harris, 50, who lives in a public housing complex near the school. "I wouldn't think anything like that would happen in little ol' Waycross. I guess if it can happen in the big cities, it can happen here."

Police Chief Tony Tanner said the plot unraveled when a student reported to school officials Friday that a classmate had a knife in her backpack.

School officials say they punished all nine students, and some received long-term suspension, but they would not be more specific. Under school system rules, children who bring weapons to school may also face expulsion.

Shavette Owens, whose 7 and 8-year-old children attend the school, said she was glad officials had taken action, but was still somewhat shaken.

"Where were my kids at when these kids had all those weapons?" Owens said. "My heart just dropped, I didn't know what to think."

Georgia law prohibits bringing adult criminal charges against children under 13, but places no age limit on children sent to juvenile court.

Juvenile judges hand down sentences that range from writing apology letters to victims, mandated counseling, enrollment in 60-day juvenile boot camps and locking up young offenders in juvenile detention centers.

However, the children accused in Waycross seem far too young to face detention, said Randee Waldman, director of the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic at Emory University School of Law.

"It would take an extraordinary circumstance for a child under the age of 10 to be detained," Waldman said. "Juvenile court is rehabilitative in nature. It's not designed to be punitive."

Children so young often aren't considered competent to stand trial, Waldman said, because they lack the maturity to understand even the basics of the legal system — such as the roles of the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

They may also be deemed too young to have had criminal intent, she said.

"They need to understand the proceedings, which can be boiled down to the roles of the parties and how the process works," Waldman said. "They need to understand what the implications are for them and they need to be able to assist their lawyer."

Tanner and District Attorney Rick Currie did not immediately return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum reported from Waycross, Ga. Mike Stobbe reported from Atlanta.