Shooting Threat

So, I just found out that there has been a shooting threat at my school, to occur the day before break. Admin believes it's a ploy to get out of the last day of school or something. We will still be holding regular classes with increased security.

I must admit, I have really mixed feelings and most of them are unpleasant. I know the chances are slim and admin is probably correct, but you hear about this on the news and always wonder what if the day comes when it happens at YOUR school. I don't know... I just needed to get it off my chest I suppose.

 

Do you think the school is making the right decision, or would do you think school should be canceled?

 

If I were in your position, I might *cough cough* be coming down with something that requires me to take a sick day on Friday.

 

I honestly don't know. I feel like if I were truly planning a shooting, I would not advertise the fact via graffiti. On the other hand, these incidents seem to be happening with more frequency and it seems awfully risky, just in case.

 

I feel it would be a very tough call to make as an administrator.

If they cancel school, they'll surely catch some hell for "giving in" to unsubstantiated threats. On the other hand, the alternative would likely catch them much more hell....though it may be less likely.

 

I agree, and I understand why they're holding school still.

All I know is that it's going to be a very nerve wracking day and I'd rather not have to deal with it.

 

I totally get this ... but my anxiety would only increase knowing my students were with a sub (and putting a sub in a situation like that). I'm not saying a sub wouldn't do the right thing, but ... I dunno.

 

Such a tough call.
Won't be able to say what the "right" decision was until the end of the day.

Were parents informed?

Do you expect the media/local news to be present at school tomorrow?

What a mess.

 

Canceling school or risking innocent lives.

Seems like a no brainer to me.

 

This.

 

My own children would not be at school that day. I would be in class.

 

From what I observe, most shooters have a targeted person in mind. That said, they don't mind shooting a few others that get in the way.

My old school had a shooting a few years ago. Did you hear about it? No, information was not broadcast. This was an effort to discourage copy cats.

 

You better be prepared to cancel school every time a teenager feels like talking big anonymously in order to get out of school then.

 

yes.

 

When I was in university there was a threat written on a bathroom wall. Security was amped up and students received amnesty if they didn't attend on the day. Most professors ended up cancelling classes because so many students weren't planning on attending. I did not go to class that day - I just couldn't shake the 'what if' feeling.

I'll be praying for you and your school's safety this week.

 

This is exactly what I told my husband last night.

This is more or less what's happening at my school. I appreciate the prayers.

An e-mail and phone call also went out to parents last night. I'm not sure about the media. I hope no media. I'm sure after the e-mail last night the kids will be buzzing with gossip today... *sigh*

 

We get bombing and shooting threats at least a few times a year. It's always concerning, but I've never once heard of a public threat that became a real event. The real shootings aren't publicized first.

 

It's a tough judgement call. Once again, I would never want to be an administrator high up enough to have to make that decision.

 

Most student shooters do advertise their plan to others prior to the event. That's part of the profile. Just sayin'.

 

A desire, a plan expressed to a certain few or online, maybe. But I have not heard of any where the shooter directly provided a threat to the school that it would occur on this day in this manner. There's a first for everything, but I've never heard of one giving the very people who could stop him precise details before.

 

In this case, graffiti was found on campus and someone reported it to admin.

 

Better that than having another Sandy Hook/Columbine situation.

 

No one has to ask me if I'd be at work or take the day off! It may be just a scare, but no one knows when something like this will really happen. I'd rather play it safe!

 

I completely understand the feeling that you're going through. I've never been personally involved with a threat like this, but I remember hearing on the news about a school in the DFW area that cancelled school a few times because a threat was found here and there. I assume the threats stopped or they found the person who did it or just stopped ignoring the threats because I haven't heard anything about it for awhile.

 

Because that's how the world works? It's dichotomous, always?

There's a chance every time a plane takes off that it won't land safely. Should we ground all planes because there's a risk that a negative event will happen?

 

I assume that law enforcement has been contacted and notified? If so, I'd go by what they suggest. If law enforcement has NOT been notified, shame. Uttering threats is a crime.

 

But if conditions are unsafe, planes do not fly.

We still go to school on days where there is no suspicion of any dangerous activity--even though there is a chance that there will be a shooting every day we go to school. But on days were there is a suspicion of a shooting, I don't see why they should have school.

 

I hope and pray that everything is safe and as calm as possible today.

 

please post at the end of your school day and let us know everybody is safe. I hope whoever wrote the threats gets the help they need or the stern that's not a joke talk - whatever is applicable.

 

That's different. If someone came to you and said, "I'm bringing a gun to school tomorrow and I plan on shooting people", would you really just scoff and say, "Well, people die everyday! This person is just bluffing to get out of school."

Kind of a scary attitude if you ask me.

 

Not quite that cavalier, but honestly, with the number of "threats" we get and the number of weapons we've found, we'd just increase the number of police (who come in full swat gear), run all entering students through the metal detectors and continue with our day.

Just last month, a male teacher and I were in one of the teacher's lounges when we heard a student scream "I've got a gun and I'm gonna shoot her in the face" (interspersed with curses) and run by. The male male teacher chased him down and tackled him. No gun on him.

I'm just saying, in some places, it's not feasible to cancel school every time a threat is made, but extra precautions should definitely be taken.

 

I would hope the police would be involved. We'd likely do whatever they suggested.

When I was in college, someone was calling in bomb threats to different buildings. When they got one, they evacuated the building, swept it with dogs, and reopened it. Obviously much easier with bombs.

I'd hope at least something would happen though. It's too scary to just ignore. I can't imagine how horrible I'd feel if we blew a threat off and then something happened.

 

Define "unsafe."

Planes still fly when it rains, even though that increases the chances of an accident. They simply don't fly in violent storms. Where is the cutoff between "normal unsafe" (dealing with 1,500 students with raging teenage hormones and probable access to weaponry at home) and "abnormal unsafe?"

They should have school because positive reinforcement that anonymous threats can cancel school is not the message you want to send to students, many of whom don't want to go to school.

 

That's not the same at all and is pretty ridiculous. The two situations are not equivalent. The student who said that would be arrested and not allowed back in school.

 

Well, you posted a situation that was different so...

If police are on the campus then I see no reason for school to commence. But if not and no kind of precaution is taken over a threat, either verbal or written, I see that as ignorant.

I also see apathetic attitudes about threats as ignorant. :sorry:

 

What, exactly, do you think "commence" means?

It doesn't seem to be the word you were looking if you're using "but" as a contrarian conjunction.

I'm sorry that you think "not overreacting" is the equivalent to "apathetic," but ignorant is hardly a word that's applicable to this situation. I'm far from ignorant on the concept of risk.

"Sandman: Okay, the most important truth in risk communication is the exceedingly low correlation between whether a risk is dangerous, and whether it’s upsetting. That correlation hovers around 0.2. You can square a correlation to get the percentage of variance accounted for. You square 0.2 you get 0.04, a glorious four percent of the variance; that is, the risks that kill people and the risks that upset people are completely unrelated. If you know a risk is dangerous, that tells you almost nothing about whether it’s upsetting. If you know a risk is upsetting, that tells you almost nothing about whether it’s dangerous. That low correlation is not my work, but back in the 1980s looking at that low correlation and trying to make sense out of it, I coined the formula that sent my children to college and that has become my sort of signature formula. I said alright look, let’s call whether a risk is dangerous or not, or how dangerous it is, let’s call that hazard. Let’s call how upsetting it is outrage. And I coined the formula risk equals hazard plus outrage, which was my effort to claim that the risk really has two different components. … The technical component is the hazard. The social component, the cultural component, is the outrage."

http://freakonomics.com/2011/11/29/...versation-with-risk-consultant-peter-sandman/

 

commence= begin/start, right? I was saying that school should begin if that is the case. If there isn't an officer on site, then it should not and I would be concerned.

Grammar isn't my strong suit. I don't go around acting like it is. But if you knew what I meant, and obviously you did, why point it out? I'm curious.

No. Overreacting is not a synonym for for being concerned, is it?

 

You pull a quote from Freakonomics (of all places) to show that you are not ignorant on the concept of risk?

Interesting.

 

This is how I feel. I blew off a harmless threat once and it changed my life forever. Risk doesn't always work in your favor.

When it comes to children I just can't see risking it. Not for a second. Sure it may be an empty threat, nothing may happen, but what if it does?