My kid came home from school with rumors...

[disney obsessed]

Of shootings at school tomarrow. the administration called and said that all is well, it is a rumor, come to school. My head tells me all is fine but my heart to scared to death. would you send your kid to school?

[Disney4us2]

We have seen a lot going on here in Los Angeles with various incidents. I would keep my DD at home, which I do since we are now homeschooling. I would rather be safe than sorry.

[BrerGnat]

Happened up here in Northern VA too. Apparently, up here, it involves a middle school.

Seeing as how tomorrow is a Friday, my bet is that its an elaborate (and highly stupid) attempt to get a day off. Probably going around online somehow...

[Quadstriker]

Nope. No way.

99999 out of 100000 times it's just a rumor. But...

What do you think your kid and everyone else at that school are going to be thinking about all day?

They really going to have a productive day?

*I have no kids

[Mickey'sGirl]

My kids would be home sick with the flu. I would need more reassurance than a message from the school.

[Dopey's Girl]

I have no kids, but wouldn't hesitate to call in sick for them tomorrow. I'm sure it's a prank, but it's not worth the worry it would cause you tomorrow.

[ElenitaB]

My kids would be home sick with the flu. I would need more reassurance than a message from the school.
:ditto: My son would be home sick too. Seems that something must be going around.

[VWL Mom]

We went through this when DS20 was a senior in high school. Someone had written '5 will die on March 18" on the wall. The administration said it was found to be unconfirmed and kids had to come in. Mine stayed home, I did what I felt was right. There was no shooting that day but I never regretted my decision.

[TinkerbellT421]

Considering that tomorrow is also the same day as the Columbine shooting, I would be doubly scared. Nope, kids will have the 24 hour stomach flu. I would need a guarantee in writing, with the school allowing themselves to be responsible for a lawsuit in order to send my kids there. But, I also don't have kids, but thinking about my dbf's kids as my own, I wouldn't send them.

[Ian]

This is a really tough one, because I'm like 99.9% certain it's bogus and an attempt by the kids to get a free day off from school (if you think about it, in a twisted way, it's pretty brilliant ;)).

But really ... if, God forbid, that .1% happened to come true how could you ever live with yourself?

My kids would be sick. It would annoy me to give in to the little you-know-whats and let them win, but the risk is just too great to take the chance.

[Katzateer]

My kids would be home sick with the flu. I would need more reassurance than a message from the school.

That would be my plan too.

[FriendsofMickey]

At this point, you have probably already made your decision, but I am with the rest that I would keep my kids at home.

[dnickels]

If you think about it, a school is probably going to be safer on the day with all these types of rumors swirling around than it ever is on a typical day. Unfortunately these things happen quite a bit, a heavy police presence is called in making any incident even more unlikely to occur, and nothing ends up happening.

That said, I completely understand why people keep their kids at home when rumors like this pop up.

[disney obsessed]

wow
I am surprised by the unanimous vote for her to stay home.

after a lot of discussion with friends and my sister in law, who is a school principal here in town, we decided to have her go. so did everyone else.

Apparently, this started at a neighboring high school earlier this week and the police and the school have been very dilligent in their investigation. my husband felt it was probably safer to go today with the increased security than on a regular day at school. Also, what do you do when the kids realize this is a good way to get out of school for the day and it happens again. Do you keep your child out then too?


I strongly believe it is a personal, family decision and respect everyone's opinion. we decided to fight against the fear, to not let the bullies or the terrorists win. was a part of me screaming "don't let her go'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". You bet. But this was the decision we made and the school parking lot was full and there were kids everywhere this am at drop off.

But the way, she and I leave for Disney for her 16 th birthday celebration on Sunday. Can't wait!!!!!!

[BrerGnat]

wow
I am surprised by the unanimous vote for her to stay home.

after a lot of discussion with friends and my sister in law, who is a school principal here in town, we decided to have her go. so did everyone else.

Apparently, this started at a neighboring high school earlier this week and the police and the school have been very dilligent in their investigation. my husband felt it was probably safer to go today with the increased security than on a regular day at school. Also, what do you do when the kids realize this is a good way to get out of school for the day and it happens again. Do you keep your child out then too?


I strongly believe it is a personal, family decision and respect everyone's opinion. we decided to fight against the fear, to not let the bullies or the terrorists win. was a part of me screaming "don't let her go'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". You bet. But this was the decision we made and the school parking lot was full and there were kids everywhere this am at drop off.

But the way, she and I leave for Disney for her 16 th birthday celebration on Sunday. Can't wait!!!!!!

I would have done the same thing as you.

Truth is, there are probably a LOT more threats that we have never heard about. It's only due to schools being on social networking sites so much lately (Twitter, Facebook) and needing to make this stuff public because that's how the mentality is nowadays (we NEED to know everything that's going on, always).

I firmly believe that schools take these sorts of things VERY seriously. No one wants a tragedy. I would feel confident if the situation was fully investigated by the police/school administration and they found no substantiated threat.

Kids have been calling in "bomb threats" and shooting threats into schools for ages. 99.99999% of those are unsubstantiated. You can't keep your kids home every time there is a chance that something might happen, based upon an unsubstantiated rumor. I mean, you CAN, but what does that teach your kids?

[Mickey'sGirl]

I mean, you CAN, but what does that teach your kids?That I value their safety above all else.

If the school couldn't lay out the specific strategy they have in place for dealing with the "threat", then any risk would be too great.

[BrerGnat]

That I value their safety above all else.

If the school couldn't lay out the specific strategy they have in place for dealing with the "threat", then any risk would be too great.

I get what you're saying, and I agree that if there was any doubt on the part of law enforcement or the school, I would err on the side of caution for my kid's safety too. However, we are talking about an UNSUBSTANTIATED threat, that was cleared by police as such. Would you still keep your kids home under those circumstances? If so, what if that happened every week? Every day? Where do you draw the line, is all I'm saying.

At some point, if you have absolutely NO trust in law enforcement, then you probably should keep your kids home all the time. And, I know some parents choose to do just this. I just don't personally agree with that level of sheltering.

[VWL Mom]

That I value their safety above all else.

If the school couldn't lay out the specific strategy they have in place for dealing with the "threat", then any risk would be too great.

:ditto:

[disney obsessed]

I don't think there is a wrong or right answer. Just the one that fits your own family. Let's keep that in mind and appreciate that whether I chose to have my children go to school or not, we all love our kids and want them to be safe.

[Mickey'sGirl]

If so, what if that happened every week? Every day? Where do you draw the line, is all I'm saying.This was a one time incident with no mention of precident. So, it's not going on every week etc. That is a whole other kettle of fish, and the community would require a legitimate strategy and procedure (here it is called "lock down"). I think keeping a child home in this case is a far cry from sheltering. It's not like standing with little Johnny under the swingset to make sure that he gets his turn.

That said, I aboslutely respect the OP's decision to let her child go to school You have to do what is right for your family.

[VWL Mom]

I don't think there is a wrong or right answer. Just the one that fits your own family. Let's keep that in mind and appreciate that whether I chose to have my children go to school or not, we all love our kids and want them to be safe.

Absolutely! You followed your heart and have no need to justify that decision to anyone.

BTW, have a great birthday celebration! Sweet 16

[MNNHFLTX]

We had this happen when my son was in high school and a threat again (at the same school) just a couple of months ago. Just to clarify, this is a great high school in a very reputable school district--just proves that it can happen anywhere!

Anyway, I would say it would depend on the circumstances. Most times these types of very vague rumors circulate through the social media sites, to the extent that most kids even look at them as more of a urban myth. Where there have been more serious threats, the kid intending to commit the crime actually tells a friend or friends about the plot, who then tells school officials because it seemed more plausible to them.

In my son's case, the school acted very much like the OP's school, being proactive about contacting parents and telling them what they knew and assuring them that added security would be in place to keep their children safe. Being informed about the situation helped us decide that the threat did not seem justified and, in any case, the school was on top of the situation. So he went to school, as did most kids, and everything was fine.

What scared me more than these "prank" type of threats was the thought that of a Columbine type attack out of the blue, where no one had a clue anything was going down, except maybe for a couple of friends who didn't take it seriously. If there was one good thing to come out of that horrible tragedy is that I think kids really do pay more attention and listen to what their friends say these days, and speak up to officials when they need to.

[NJGIRL]

my son would stay home that day. no doubt in my mind.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

I am in the minority, but I am on my 4th round of high school and if I kept my children home for every rumor that runs through the social networks of our local teenagers, they would never been in school.

Our school has a very logical and safe plan laid out in writing and in practice for incidents just as these and they are drilled starting in elementary school all they way up and including our high school and "early college" program. So I would very confidently send my children on to school for the day.

[Georgesgirl1]

I am just now seeing this, but if it were me, I would have likely kept my kids home from school. My experience is probably a little different that everyone else's.

I was a senior in high school when the Columbine shooting happened. After the shooting, our county school system sent home a letter telling parents how something like Columbine couldn't happen in our town because of the percautions they had in place. Exactly a month after the COlumbine shooting, there was a school shooting in my hometown. It was at one of the three high schools in our small county and many of my friends attended that school. All the schools in the county went on lock down and all we knew was that 6 people had been shot. We sat in our classroom for several hours not knowing the condition of the wounded and not knowing who they were. It was absolutely terrifying. Luckily, no one was killed. Then two weeks later, there was a bomb threat on our graduation. This threat was taken very seriously. The whole school was shut down before the graduation ceremony and bomb sniffing dogs were brought in. There were cops all over the school during the ceremony. If they had not taken the threat seriously, I would not have gone to my graduation.

So yes, if there is a threat at my kids school when they get older, I am likely to keep them home for the day.