Social media is playing a growing role in the threat of school shootings — and authorities are struggling to stop it

Jonathan Drake/Reuters

• Since the Parkland shooting it has been estimated that almost 50% of school-shooting threats have been made via social media.
• In the weeks following the Parkland incident there were around 70 threats made per day.
• Authorities are struggling to find a way to fairly reprimand those making the threats online, while still respecting their First Amendment rights.
• Some educators feel that, though law enforcement play a valid role, it is first and foremost the responsibility of educational facilities to promote safety.

The Snapchat post showed several guns and warned @MHS students not to go to school the next day. It spread so quickly in January that it sparked investigations in at least 30 states at schools that share those initials, until police in Virginia arrested a juvenile and declared it a hoax.

Since the February shooting in Parkland, Fla., school districts have faced a predictable spike in such threats. Some real plans to do harm have been thwarted as alert students, parents, and citizens speak up. In many more cases, threats have not been genuine. But no one wants to miss warning signs that could prevent the next school shooting.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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