What to Do About School Threats

Following the horrific 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland, Florida, schools, police, and policymakers were desperate to prevent similar events from happening in the future. Prevention focused on the issue of school threats and the need to take them seriously. But we must balance taking threats seriously without imposing draconian penalties on youth or young adults who have mental health issues or who make a mistake.

Balancing Legal Response to Threats

In Florida, it is a second-degree felony for someone to send or make a threat, whether written or on social media, anonymous or otherwise. A recent spate of school threats made by minors in Florida raises serious concerns. On one hand, these threats absolutely need to be taken seriously and to be investigated by school officials and police officers. On the other hand, the harsh legal penalties currently imposed for such behaviors are likely to destroy the lives of some minors who were never serious threats or would have benefited from mental health care. Attendant news coverage, particularly if an offender’s name is released (though they are often withheld for juveniles) can result in public shaming that may be impossible to recover from.

Kids make threats for a variety of reasons. Obviously, the most worrying are those who seriously intend to carry out the threat. Individuals who commit serious incidents of school violence may have chronic mental health problems, come from difficult homes, have a history of anger problems, and see themselves as victimized by others. These are just general findings—not a definitive “profile.” Just as many people who fit this pattern never commit acts of violence, it’s important not to dismiss a threat because someone doesn’t fit this profile.

Other kids may have no intention of carrying out a threat. Some kids may think it’s a “prank,” may be motivated by resentment toward their school, or may have poor impulse control. Still others may make a threat in the heat of an argument; the proverbial “I’m gonna kill you” said on schoolyards across the world for generations is only now locked into social media as undeniable evidence.

Dismissing threats as “kids being kids” is definitely a bad idea, as this obviously risks missing a serious incident. But bringing the hammer of a felony charge down on kids regardless of intent or circumstance is likely to cause great harm as well. The United States already has a widespread problem with mass incarceration and draconian punishments. Adding to this isn’t going to help. In many cases, identifying the source of a youth’s motivation, focusing on mental health rather than incarceration, providing resources for a struggling youth and family, and supportive monitoring while keeping a child in school can deflect potential violence. An initiative of Miami-Dade’s Threat Management Section appears promising in this regard. The unit removes firearms from the possession of individuals making threats but also fosters relationships with them, helping them gain access to social and mental health services, often without making arrests.

Underinvestment in Mental Health

A large part of our problem is our underinvestment in mental health. In the case of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, the perpetrator was well-known to have mental health problems. The schools and mental health professionals struggled to know how best to serve him while keeping the community safe. It may be time to reconsider the need for state-funded, humane, long-term inpatient care with clear due process procedures so that we don’t return to the abusive asylums of the past. This will require funding and a lot of human rights oversight but may nonetheless be more fruitful in helping truly ill individuals than employing the criminal justice system as a crude instrument.

I applaud efforts by the state to take school threats seriously. Yet there is a difference between taking each school threat seriously and treating each school threat as serious. With a renewed focus on mental health care and social services for all but the most dangerous offenders, we can avert tragedies without shattering salvageable lives.