No winning for hit list writers or administration
Students list of teachers and students to harm - a prank
Two 12-year-old girls at Fountain Woods Elementary School made a list of 44 students and 3 teachers that they ‘wanted to harm’. The school suspended the girls and they will have to go through psychological evaluations before returning to school. They also reported the incident to the police.
The incident never posed a serious threat to student safety, and all the correct district procedures were followed in response to the incident, [Burnlington district interim superintendent Arthur Merz] said. The incident was reported to the police, he said.
“We took this very, very seriously,” Merz said. “You have to in this day and age. Right now, we’re fairly comfortable that it was a prank.”
Township police Lt. Wayne Maver said police investigated the incident but determined the list was simply a prank without serious intent.
Psychological evaluation seems a bit excessive to me, especially as they have already concluded that it was a prank. Overall though I’d say their handling of the incident is superior to a lot of the cases profiled here. Parents of Fountain Woods students think the school did not go far enough.
On the advice of the school’s police resource officer and the district’s attorney, school officials decided not to call parents to inform them of the situation, since it would have created a panic over what police and school officials have deemed a prank, Merz said.
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“When somebody makes a threat against your child, you need to know about it,” said the mother of a Fountain Woods sixth-grade boy. “I’m very upset.”
She said her son told her about the incident Friday night, and she received several calls from other parents who were concerned that their children’s safety had been compromised.
The mother of another sixth-grade boy said that by not contacting parents immediately, school officials “handled the situation very poorly.”
“Who are (school officials) to say what is a threat and what is not a threat to our children?” she asked in a phone interview. “We should be the ones to answer that question.”
A father of another sixth-grader said: “My son was on that list, and I just wanted to know what steps they were taking for my child’s safety. I think I have the right to know that.”
Parents of Fountain Woods, sorry but you are wrong and the school is right. They discovered a problem, evaluated it, reported it to legal authority, concurred with the legal authority regarding its harmless nature, removed the offending students anyway, and will be subjecting said students to psychological evaluations. What more would you have them do?
I disagree with how the school is treating the two girls. They are being treated as if the threat had been determined to be credible. No psychological evaluation is needed for a prank. However, I think they have handled the rest of the issue in exemplary fashion.
(Tip credit to Ken Adams)
a lunch-room worker at Fountain Woods Elementary School intercepted a piece of paper that indicated the two 12-year-old girls wanted to harm the 44 students and three teachers listed.
It’s not funny, I don’t believe it was a prank. Parents call this a prank because he consequences the children face are so serious. I don’t know if these kids are being bullied in school or if they were bullies. I don’t know if the district is exaggerting the offense, or targeting the parents for a lawsuit in the very public event. Although the district believes the kids should be suspended and examimed, they did not think parents should be notified.
The school district said the girls confessed to writing the names of 43 students and four teachers on the list. However, because school officials believe the girls never intended to actually harm anyone, the district decided not to notify the parents of the students on the list.
“Since we determined it was a prank, we didn’t want to notify everyone on the list. We thought we would create a panic situation and maybe even a copycat situation,” Merz said.
“I’m a little bit upset about it, quite frankly, that they thought the parents didn’t need to know because they didn’t want us to worry,” said Karen Millerline, a parent of a child at Fountain Woods.
It wasn’t the parents who called it a prank. Both the police department and the school administration determined that.
Remember… Columbine changed everything in schools. It is good for the girls to get a psychological evaluation also so that they learn where pranks end and serious trouble begins. Obviously they didn’t know that before.
The parents should be informed in a general letter. If some parents already know who was on the list, weren’t the parents of kids on the list informed of such information?
barry
Why do they need to be ‘evaluated’ by a psychiatrist? All of the authorities involved agree that it was a prank without malicious intent. What is wrong with meting out an appropriate punishment and informing them that this behavior is unacceptable?
When did a doctorate in mental health become a requirement in order to tell a kid they messed up? When did a mental health evaluation become necessary when a kid makes a mistake?
If the administration publically agreed with the parents and the details aren’t published. Who knows? There is little attempt to investigate detail and make a thoughtful decision. The only way any of these people will ever tell their story is if it goes to court. This incident could point to many serious issues, none are being addressed.
actually, I don’t think the parents thought it was a prank. It’s still being handled poorly. I don’t know if the kids said I hope these people are unsuccessful in all of their finanacial endeavors, or if this was a desparate cry for help. The administration has made it a public spectacle by involving the police. Pulbic humilation through the media and law enforcement invites lawsuits.
It looks like this is being handled VERY correctly, except by the parents. The offending kids were removed, police were consulted, the offending kids will by looked at by professionals (as they should be). The school acted right. You can see, by the reaction of the parents, what the over reaction would have been if the school would have called all the parents.
SorrJim, but I think the evaluation — strictly as a precaution — isn’t a bad idea. It seems very clear that the list wasn’t a threat, but it doesn’t hurt to let an expert make sure.
I think this case pretty strongly illustrates the reason for zero tolerance policies. When an administrator attempts to use good judgement, he gets pilloried by one group of parents or another. They are damned either way they decide an issue, so by carving a rule in stone hope to avoid conflict. What they don’t realize is that avoiding a decision is worse than making a less-than-perfect one.
Oh, and a minor correction — this is a New Jersey school, not Pennsylvania.
What I believe would have seemed better to me is a news story that included the opinions of the parents (the only comments I saw were from parents who ‘thought’ their child was on the list), and I wanted a better idea of what was deemed to be wishing harm on another person. I also wanted to understand what constitutes a ‘prank’. I think anything less is yellow journalism.
Once the events and decisions were clear, I would like to see that a reasonable effort was made to deal with the kids as kids. At this age I would rather not see the police involved. I like the idea of an evaluation. The evaluation should include the school, teachers, and other children on the list. Not because they are under suspicion, but because children fequently lack the verbal skills to articulate the kinds of problems that are driving an issue. Whenever police are involved, we need to notice if the ‘numbers’ are pointed at a school, administration, district and not assume it’s a kid issue.