Picton High School, (click title to entry - thank you) south of Sydney, was placed in lockdown today, after a group of 15 children allegedly threatened a student with a gun on Facebook....
...Police said they saw eight children walking around the school and told them to move along.
Wollondilly Shire mayor Michael Banasik, whose children attend the school, said he was shocked by the incident.
"My staff have told me a group of people threatened this student and said they and their friends were going to come to the school with a gun," Mr Banasik said.
"She alerted the principal, and the school shut down."
A spokesman for the Department of Education said the school went into lockdown after they were told ''threatening people'' were going to enter the campus.
He said the people did not enter the school and the police were called. ''We are working with the police,'' the spokesman added.
Picton High School sent a text message to parents this afternoon detailing the incident.
"We responded to a call of concern from the community re a student's safety and locked gates/call (sic) police as a precautionary measure. No incident occurred," it read.
Picton High School in Australia (click here) This being in Australia it sets up a bit of a different dynamic. The country has not financially strapped its government. The land mass and the population is different. The authorities were ready and able to respond. But, what if this wasn't Australia, but, the USA? Would the schools be able and ready to respond to such an emerging threat with cuts in funding and reduced staffing?
And Facebook? It is a place where hostility is in the planning stages? Really? There should be a filter of some kind set up by Microsoft that picks up trends. I don't believe any language used to indicate violence, anger or hostility should be allowed with children under 18 years old. It should not be allowed at all, but, that would be censorship of adult sites and that is probably more difficult to manage. But, young people should be easy.
Picton High School in Australia (click here) This being in Australia it sets up a bit of a different dynamic. The country has not financially strapped its government. The land mass and the population is different. The authorities were ready and able to respond. But, what if this wasn't Australia, but, the USA? Would the schools be able and ready to respond to such an emerging threat with cuts in funding and reduced staffing?
And Facebook? It is a place where hostility is in the planning stages? Really? There should be a filter of some kind set up by Microsoft that picks up trends. I don't believe any language used to indicate violence, anger or hostility should be allowed with children under 18 years old. It should not be allowed at all, but, that would be censorship of adult sites and that is probably more difficult to manage. But, young people should be easy.
