Authorities say students should report threats they see on social media, but shouldn’t share them. (Getty Images)
Students who see a school threat on social media should report it to authorities, but those same authorities want students to know that sharing threats on social media could be treated as a crime punishable with prison time.
“ Think about what you’re doing before you hit send or share, because any perceived threat is going to be taken very seriously,” said Rob Monson, executive director of the School Administrators of South Dakota.
He added that schools will always err on the side of safety if a threat’s seriousness is unclear, given the potential consequences of not taking a threat seriously enough.
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South Dakota schools and law enforcement agencies’ responses to recent threats have involved locking down schools, evacuating buildings and launching investigations involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
“We will investigate every little thing that happens,” Monson said. “Kids need to understand that cops are getting called, and there are criminal repercussions. These are potential acts of terrorism .”