In response to the story of the 5 year old kindergarten student suspended for threatening to bring a gun to school, the Lakewood School District today released the following statement to TLS.
“Recently, there have been press reports regarding a student discipline matter in the Lakewood School District. Due to student confidentiality and privacy considerations, there can be no further comment from the District regarding this incident. However, taking into consideration the facts of the matter and the age of the student involved, we want to stress that we are satisfied that there was never any actual threat or danger to the students or staff of the District. The well-being of our students and staff remains our highest priority.”
If there never was any danger or threat to students or staff why then was the police called to the school for a 5yr old??
The Lakewood School District Administration, led by Superintendent of Schools, Laura Winters has done the right thing, and the only thing that could be done under the circumstances.
Whenever a threat is uttered, it is incumbent on the District to report the threat to Police, take administrative action, and remain silent regarding all other information other than the text of the threat and a broad description of the student.
The child is 5, and has therefore not reached the age of reason, and therefore is not responsible for uttering the threat. Nevertheless, the threat was uttered.
Everything was done bu the book, which is the way school superintendents must act. The incident is on message that threats will not be tolerated.
As adults, we can ASSUME that it’s unlikley (not impossible) that this child would execute his threat. The most impactful result of the threats is the reactions of the students and their emotions. Children of the same age, especially in light of recent events in Newtown, CT, are likely to take the threats seriously. Students fake illness or straight out resist going to school because “little Johnny”, who likely has some history of behvior issues in the classroom, said he was going to kill them. Yes, get the child some help. In the meantime, don’t punish the rest of the truly innocent students by depriving them the right to attend school without fear of injury or death (that sounds crazy even writing that).