It’s certainly been an interesting week in the world of education here in Morgantown.
Last Friday, an unsigned threat to “shoot up” Morgantown High School that day (Dec. 3) was scrawled on a boys’ bathroom wall — and then a second threat was found in a different bathroom, saying the school shooting would be Monday, Dec. 6. Two days later, on Sunday, an anonymous letter found in a Mountainlair bathroom suggested the writer was going to commit suicide in public — likely at the Mountainlair — on Monday. A tweet by WVU Safety and Wellness (@WVUSafety) Sunday, reading, “In a crisis, run & call 911. If you can’t run, hide. Block doors & avoid windows. If needed, fight,” made many students and community members wonder if the suicide note indicated harm to others as well as self.
Fortunately, there was no shooting at MHS, and there was no public suicide at West Virginia University. The community, though, is understandably shaken.
Such threats are a cause for alarm any day, but these ones came closely on the heels of the school shooting in Oxford, Mich., where a student killed four other students and wounded seven more. A lawsuit has been filed against the school system for not doing more to protect the students.
The 15-year-old shooter had been sent to the counselors’ office after a teacher found his drawing of a gun, a person who had been shot and the caption, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” The counselors immediately called in the boy’s parents and told them to get their son professional help. The parents left and refused to take their son home. At that time, he’d been calm throughout the meeting and had no previous disciplinary actions. With only two options — send the 15-year-old home to an empty house or send him back to class — the counselors chose to send him to class. Later that day, he pulled out a handgun and opened fire on his classmates.
With that tragedy fresh in people’s minds and still dominating the news cycle, it’s not surprising MHS parents approached the board of education with concerns the school wasn’t doing enough to protect their children. Some chose to keep their kids home from school. Since the day the shooting threats were found on the bathroom wall, Morgantown High has operated in a “modified learning environment,” which is, in part, a stricter hall pass system to keep students out of the halls and bathrooms unnecessarily and keep closer track of students’ whereabouts.
It’s not unreasonable for parents to wonder how a stricter hall pass system protects their kids from an active shooter. Or to fear that what happened in Michigan can happen here. However, there is only so much the school system can do when the identity of the person making the threat is unknown. The board of education must weigh the pros and cons of the “what if …?” of a threat the superintendent says is unsubstantiated vs. setting a precedent that any threat against the school can cause classes to be canceled.
We wish it was an easy, black-and-white situation with a simple solution. There is no right or wrong — only concerned adults doing what they think is best to protect the children.
Editor’s Note
If you or someone you know are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact any of the following:
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (veterans should press 1);
- the LGBTQ+ community can call 866-488-7368.
- for the Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741.
- If you’re not in crisis but need to talk to someone, call or text Help 4 WV at 844-435-7498.
