Several Northwoods school districts have sent letters to families of students letting them know they’re aware of school threats made at a national level on TikTok.
The posts circulating online warned that multiple schools would receive shooting and bomb threats on Friday, December 17th. Many of the school districts in the Northwoods say they’ve been in contact with local enforcement to take extra precautions.
“We want to assure you that our current safety plan, our partnerships with the Vilas County Sheriff Department and the Eagle River Police Department, our School Resource Officer and planning for this specific situation has us prepared for school on Friday,” said Northland Pines District Administrator Scott Foster in a statement.
No schools in the area have gotten specific threats.
“The post is part of a national TikTok trend and did not originate in our school district. To be clear, no named threats have been directed at our school. While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously,” said School District of Crandon District Administrator Larry Palubicki in a letter to families.
Ironwood Area Schools Superintendent went as far as asking parents to talk to their children about how scary and damaging a threat like this can be. In a letter shared by WUPM, it also asked them to take extra precautions to secure any weapons to ensure no children have unintended access.
“To be clear: bringing a weapon onto school grounds will lead to an immediate and mandatory expulsion from any public school in Michigan as is clearly stated in the Michigan Revised School Code. Students in violation of this rule will also face criminal charges,” said IAS Superintendent Travis Powell.
In a Facebook post, Watersmeet Township Schools said it would be doing distance learning on Friday, December 17th in response to the National threats.
TikTok said it was working with law enforcement to investigate, according to the Associated Press.
The posts follow a disturbing trend that has had students acting out in response to social media challenges.
