Several school districts in the United States have been put on high alert following reports of classroom violence on social media. There are no credible threats from law enforcement at this time, but a major school district stated it was looking forward to seeing students in the morning despite the concerns.
TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat were also used to distribute the “school shooting copycat threats,” according to multiple police departments and media sources. However, TikTok claims that there is no proof that these posts were widely shared on their service. It was too late Thursday night to find any TikTok videos threatening violence at schools on Friday, but there were plenty asking students to stay home or take measures.
This comes after a tragic school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, and evacuations at other American campuses following allegations of bombs that eventually turned out to be untrue. Overreacting to warnings on a social media platform popular with teenagers has put many parents, kids, and educators on edge, but experts have warned against doing so.
Information science professor Casey Fiesler of the University of Colorado Boulder said she didn’t want to downplay any potential danger, but it’s possible that students who had noticed an increase in school violence among their peers were hoping to get attention.
It’s possible to get around the site’s strict rules on violence and threats of violence, according to Fiesler, the TikTok moderator. According to her, “content that would otherwise not spread as much [is] going viral” because of TikTok’s accessibility.
One school-safety expert tells the Columbus Dispatch that closing classrooms can be a “double-edged sword,” citing the possibility that a harsh response could lead to anxiety and disruption that inspires copycat behavior from other malicious actors.
Prior to enacting actions, administrators should evaluate if any intimidating speech is “particular” and “substantive.” All threats aren’t created equal.
Colorado professor Fiesler suggested a hypothetical scenario in which a student pulls an emergency alarm to avoid an exam in order to avoid having to take it. “It might be the same kind of thing, just on a much larger scale,” she explained.
A threat that first appeared to be a method for pupils to skip school “morphed into something much more distressing” in Carson City, Nev., and Gladstone, Mich., where school cancellations occurred. More information was not given and a request for comment was not replied promptly.
Many schools, though, have so far avoided the most extreme steps. Haverford Township school district director said police did not believe pupils were in immediate danger after writing was discovered on the wall of a nearby middle school hinting to a possible shooting. Teachers and students may expect an increased police presence in the classrooms.
“This situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats,” wrote Maureen Reusche, the district superintendent, in an email to parents seen by The Washington Post. “Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety … threats, whether serious or not, are a crime and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Baltimore County Public Schools said law enforcement had investigated threats of mass school shootings on Friday, and found them not credible. The school district wrote on Twitter that the threat appeared to have originated in Arizona.
Little Miami Schools in Ohio said it had not received any specific threats, though there would be an increased police presence on campuses Friday. Another school system in Texas told middle and high school students to leave backpacks home for the day “out of an abundance of caution.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) wrote on Twitter that his office is working closely with law enforcement, though there were no “known specific threats.”
Renee Bennett, whose two sons attend schools in Little Miami, said her children would not be attending class Friday. “I don’t care if it’s [excused] or not, my kids were not going,” she said. “I could not live with myself If I let [my son] go and something happened.”
Landon Bennett, 13, had been looking forward to attending the last day of term after missing school earlier this week. But he alerted his mother to the TikTok warnings and said he feels safer not attending on Friday, even after news of more law enforcement on campus.
The Dec. 17 warnings come on the same week as the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, in which 26 children and educators were killed. Gun-control advocates demanded that TikTok better regulate content posted on its platform, with at least one activist calling on its app to be suspended from mobile app stores.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company investigates reports of potentially harmful social media challenges that appear on its platform and helps users assess potential threats.