Washington schools and police take allegations of violence against students very seriously. Recent claims of violence at one Washington high school even led to a teenage student’s arrest. Unfortunately, threats against schools appear to be on the rise, and could possibly be linked to the popular social media app TikTok.
A gun on campus
According to authorities, a 14-year-old boy brought a loaded pistol to school and showed some of his fellow students. One of the students who saw the gun also received threatening messages from the boy in question, including pictures of weapons. That student reported the incident to his or her parents, who then alerted authorities. Police later found the gun in question at the boy’s home and determined that he had stolen it from a relative’s gun safe.
A troubling trend
Teenagers are not necessarily the best decision makers, and it can be easy for some to fall in with dangerous trends. One such trend has been circulating on the app TikTok, which encourages students to make threats against their schools. Threats related to this viral challenge have appeared in the form of:
- Guns on campus
- Threatening text messages
- Threats written on bathroom walls
Teenagers do not always fully understand the repercussions of their actions until they are facing arrest. Sadly, this can lead to minors making decisions that will impact the rest of their lives, often while under the impression that their actions are not that serious. It is important that Washington families treat these situations as serious as they are, which often involves securing experienced and compassionate guidance through the juvenile justice process.