By:Jeff Lipton
Officials laud Lawrence H.S. teens for reporting classmate
As school and police officials in California were sorting out why a boy killed two fellow students and injured 13 others in a shooting rampage March 5, and authorities were dealing with copycat incidents and student threats across the country, Lawrence school officials were investigating a threat of their own.
Lawrence Public School officials and Fourth Precinct police confirmed that a student had uttered threats about killing people at the high school, but determined the boy was not serious.
"The story that I understand is that a 15-year-old spoke about using guns, using them against people, killing people," said Schools Superintendent Paul Kelleher.
He said the student discussed it with one or more classmates on Wednesday, March 7, and the high-school administration was notified. Police were also called to the school and visited the boy at home to determine if he was a threat.
"The school administration and police investigated it thoroughly and determined him not to be a threat," Dr. Kelleher said. "It was an inappropriate joke. But you have to take all these incidents seriously."
No criminal charges were filed against the student and the school took no severe disciplinary action such as suspension or expulsion.
Kelleher said that even though school and police officials take each threat seriously, "we have to be careful that we are not overreacting."
"What he did was foolish. It was not dangerous, but it was stupid more than anything else. In that case we have to be careful not to scapegoat the kid and develop a vigilante mentality."
Principal Steven Kussin, who investigated the incident, determined that the teen was sincere and understood that he made a mistake when he made the threat, Kelleher said. "It was an understanding that he was just joking."
Kelleher said he was pleased that the students who heard the threats immediately notified school officials. In most all cases of school violence, he said, "the criminal has talked to someone in advance."
Nikki Greene Douglas, co-president of the Central Council PTA, said administrators at Lawrence High School also acted quickly after news of the California shooting was reported. All teachers in Lawrence were instructed to talk to students about the incident and hotlines were established so students can report anonymously anything suspicious.
"Thank goodness, the students told school officials," Douglas said of the youths who reported the threat. "Even though it turned out to be nothing, the students could have saved lives."
The investigation came in the wake of the shooting spree at Santana High School in a suburb of San Diego. A freshman has been charged in that incident. Days before he went on the shooting rampage, the youth told friends that he was planning on carrying out the mass shooting at the school. But when his friends pressed him for more information, they said he said he was only joking. Authorities were not notified of his threats and the rampage went on as planned.
The California shooting touched off a wave of copycat acts and threats in schools across the country. A 14-year-old girl in Pennsylvania shot and wounded a classmate during a dispute in the cafeteria of her parochial school. An 18-year-old high school senior in Perris, Calif., was arrested after he was overheard saying "he felt like killing someone." Police found a knife in his backpack and two rifles at his home.
Kelleher said students, as well as adults, in Lawrence have shown some signs "that they are bothered and anxious about what happened [in California]. There are concerns about what it means for their safety and safety of other people. Their emotions have ranged from mild anxiety to fear. Both kids and adults are pretty upset about it."
A crisis intervention team was set into motion in Lawrence after the shooting in California, and posters were put up in the high school instructing students where they could turn if they needed someone to talk to.
After the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado in April 1999, security at Lawrence was beefed up, with a third security guard being hired to patrol the high school. Two are stationed outside and one inside the school, Kelleher said.
Herb Ruben, executive director of Peninsula Counseling Center in Woodmere, said he has talked to high school students in the days following the California shooting and the youths are frightened.
"They are scared," Ruben said. "Their response is if it can happen at a school in California, it can happen at other schools."
In attempting to explain why students act violently, Ruben said they will carry out an act "impulsively without being aware of the consequences of their behavior. They have to realize that if they are violent and aggressive, it can be harmful and there is a price to be paid.
"There is a deficiency in conscience about what is right and what is wrong. The best safeguard parents can give is to talk to their kids about right and wrong and giving them the caring, attention and love they need."
Sometimes violent students have trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy, Ruben added. He said parents must become more involved and set strict ground rules for their kids. "These [violent] kids really don't feel the parental influence," he said. "The parents often don't feel respected by their kids or don't have control over their kids. I see many kids who are accustomed to defying adults or making their own rules."
