If a classmate threatened your child’s life

[Anonymous]

Not in a spur of the moment impulse kind of way, but drawing a picture of a gun and telling others they would kill your child. 5th grade. Pattern of verbal bullying prior to incident but this is the first articulated threat. What would you do? How would you expect this to be handled.

[Anonymous]

Pull the kid from school.

I would expect it to be taken seriously

[Anonymous]

Call the principal, call the counselors, call the police.

[Anonymous]

I would raise every alarm, including contacting the parents directly.

[Anonymous]

The kid that was directly threatening my DC in ES, served an in school suspension and wasn't allowed on the playground during recess or anywhere DC was during school. That was permanently in place for the remainder of ES. I emailed the principal, filled out a bullying report and sent that in with a lengthy email.

[Anonymous]

Take a picture of the gun that the boy drew. Document everything. Use the word "bullying" in the bullying report and escalate to higher level, very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not in a spur of the moment impulse kind of way, but drawing a picture of a gun and telling others they would kill your child. 5th grade. Pattern of verbal bullying prior to incident but this is the first articulated threat. What would you do? How would you expect this to be handled.

Have you spoken to the teacher, principal, or whatever escalation point before?

Do the other kid's parents know about this?

[Anonymous]

If you’re in FCPS, you would report it to the principal. A risk assessment would be completed by a member of the school support team (psychologist, counselor or social worker) with an administrator present because it was a threat to another person (versus a threat to self). There is a protocol with very specific questions to help determine the level of seriousness of the threat. They then follow through with contacting parents, discipline, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal, call the counselors, call the police.

This. I would make very clear in my call to the principal that I would be involving law enforcement if it wasn’t dealt with, and I would be in contact with my school board member and my legislative representatives. Violence in schools is only possible because people wrong their hands and say they had “no idea” after the fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in FCPS, you would report it to the principal. A risk assessment would be completed by a member of the school support team (psychologist, counselor or social worker) with an administrator present because it was a threat to another person (versus a threat to self). There is a protocol with very specific questions to help determine the level of seriousness of the threat. They then follow through with contacting parents, discipline, etc.

Thanks. What happens after this step? Assuming if the independent evaluation comes back clear the student returns to class.

If the student is allowed back, how do they deal with the fallout? Who knows how the student will react to being disciplined. Other students report anger issues in class. These kids are about to go through a time of life when big feelings only get bigger. Would you keep your child at the school for the rest of their education if the other kid was staying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kid that was directly threatening my DC in ES, served an in school suspension and wasn't allowed on the playground during recess or anywhere DC was during school. That was permanently in place for the remainder of ES. I emailed the principal, filled out a bullying report and sent that in with a lengthy email.

What happened after ES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in a spur of the moment impulse kind of way, but drawing a picture of a gun and telling others they would kill your child. 5th grade. Pattern of verbal bullying prior to incident but this is the first articulated threat. What would you do? How would you expect this to be handled.

Have you spoken to the teacher, principal, or whatever escalation point before?

Do the other kid's parents know about this?

Prior to the incident, teachers and parents were informed. It happened over more than one year.

[Anonymous]

Take it to the top immediately and even call police if the school doesn’t take you seriously. If you truly believe this kid intends to harm yours, then yes I would pull my kid. Does this other child know where you live?

[Anonymous]

I would definitely escalate if it wasn’t taken seriously. I would not want that child in my child class. ( I have a 5th grader) I would want to know if the child has access to a weapon at home. The Police would need to get involved for this. If no gun at home I’d be less worried. If parents are gun owners I’d be way more concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal, call the counselors, call the police.

This. I would make very clear in my call to the principal that I would be involving law enforcement if it wasn’t dealt with, and I would be in contact with my school board member and my legislative representatives. Violence in schools is only possible because people wrong their hands and say they had “no idea” after the fact.

That’s why I’d e-mail. It’s easy to deny a call, e-mails last forever