Tuscarora High received a threat over social media which turned out to be baseless.
Frederick, Md (KM). Frederick County Public School officials are reminding parents to speak with their school-age children about what to do when they learn about threats at their school. Daryl Boffman, the Executive Director of Public Affairs for the School System, says to students if you see something, say something, even if the threat seems to be a joke, a rumor or an offhand comment. “We’d rather err on the side of caution instead as opposed to ignoring something and later find out it should have been something we paid attention to,” he says.
On Sunday evening, Tuscarora High notified through e-mail the parents of students about a threat received by the school from social media. The Sheriff’s Office. conducted an investigation, and determined there was no credible threat to the school, according to an e-mail from school officials.
Boffman encourages students to report any threat they’ve heard of to a trusted adult at the school, such as an administrator, counselor or teacher, even if it seems like a joke, a rumor or offhand comments from a student. “If someone is talking about bringing weapons into our school building, or threatening either bodily damage or property damage, that information should be taken seriously,” he says.
“You have to consider the person that you’re speaking with, the circumstances of the conversation, and make a self-assessment of whether or not it is something that needs to be addressed,” Boffman continues. “But we do want the students to err on the side of caution.”
The School System says each threat will be investigated, and there will be follow up.
Boffman also says parents should teach their children to be responsible when posting anything on social media. “Social media is pretty much out of control when it comes some of the postings, and I’m not sure we’ll ever find a solution to resolve it completely,” he says. “However, we continue to remind our students to be responsible with their postings on social media.”
By Kevin McManus