School threats leave a mark for life
By: Diana Bello Aristizábal
September was marred by a new wave of social media school threats in Florida that resulted in the arrest of several students. It seems that many children are unaware of the fact that making threats through digital means completely changes the life of those who commit this felony, even if they are minors.
Life changed for a 12-year-old girl from Lauderhill, Broward County, who on Sept. 9 posted threats directed at several schools in her county and now faces criminal charges of making written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Something similar happened with an 11-year-old student from Port Orange, Volusia County, who in mid-September allegedly made the decision to threaten to commit a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School. The boy was incarcerated and is accused of showing off several weapons during a video chat with friends.
At the local level, two Doral Academy students, who didn’t live in this municipality, were arrested in mid-September for posting threats against their school. According to Danny Espino, Miami-Dade County School board member for District 5, the students made a post on Snapchat that was later recognized by the platform’s artificial intelligence system and sent as an alert to the FBI.
“The FBI informed the Miami-Dade County Police, since the students didn’t live in Doral, and the next day at 6:15 a.m., the police were at the door of the girls’ house to arrest them. So, in less than 12 hours a threat, a detention, the referral and the arrest were conducted,” Espino said in an interview with Doral Family Journal.
A very expensive “joke”
Owning a cellphone or any other electronic device is a great responsibility that not all children know how to bear, despite the fact that authorities, year after year, disseminate information about its correct use in the mist of yet a new wave of social media school threats that puts on alert an entire community and involves the mobilization of resources.
Contrary to popular belief, not only those who carry out their threats commit a felony, but also those who, even without bad intentions or just aiming at making a “joke”, post anything that sparkles feelings of insecurity in a community already afraid of school shootings due to their high prevalence.
The September threats in Florida came just days after a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. On Sept. 4, a 14-year-old teenager opened fire at his school killing two students and two teachers.
However, despite the seriousness of the crime and its widespread dissemination, when the 12-year-old girl who threatened Broward schools was confronted, she said it was all meant to be a joke and that she never intended to carry out her threats. “All threats are taken seriously and assumed as credible until a process is laid out to determine its credibility,” Danny Espino explains.
The unnecessary mobilization of resources and exhaustion in the face of this recurring problem is such that more severe measures are already being taken to stop this disastrous trend. This is the case of Volusia County, whose Sheriff, Mike Chitwood, released the name, mugshot and video of the boy who made the aforementioned threats.
He told parents: “every time we make an arrest, your kids’ photo is going to be put out there and if I can do it, I’m going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kid’s up to.”
In this regard, Edwin Lopez, Chief of Doral Police Department, says the felony of making threats on social media scars a child’s record for life. “This is something that can affect their future ability to get a job, go to college or serve in the military, since you typically have to disclose in advance whether or not you’ve been arrested in the past.”
According to Lopez, this causes a young person to begin their adult life with a competitive disadvantage. “That’s sad and it is because it can be avoided with education. Let’s remember, however, that educating children is not the job of the police but mainly of the parents and also of the community. We can only offer support, guidance and advise.”
Regarding the consequences for a child in the present time, he explains that although the majority of these crimes are committed by teenagers over 13 years of age, those under that age are also arrested as has occurred. “Typically, a felony results in a year or more in prison, although many times that is not the case. But more important than that is the trauma that leaves on the child and its family having to enter the criminal justice system.”
It is worth mentioning that in these times, we all have to be extremely cautious with what we post and say. Sometimes, it’s not necessary to make a threat to end up getting in trouble. The simple mention of the word ‘gun’ can bring negative results. For example, someone may see (or hear) the word and start a rumor about that person that ends in a notification to the police, and, subsequently, in an unnecessary police investigation.
“Children should not be on social media until they have a better understanding of its impact. Our job as parents is not to be friends with our children, but to do what is best for their well-being, even if it means saying ‘no’ a lot,” says Danny Espino, who encourages parents to teach their children to restrict themselves on social media considering that what we do online leaves a footprint, and that content can be replicated without consent or taken out of context.