With the country still reeling from all that has happened regarding mass shootings in the last six months or so, and with Parkland a fresh reminder of the necessity for some sort of change in our country, people are understandably scared and angry.  And unfortunately, there are some people in the country who have chosen only to contribute to this fear.

It has been a little over two weeks since the shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  In that time, students and teachers in various parts of the country have been arrested for making terroristic threats against schools or bringing weapons on their campuses.  In Forsyth County alone, there have been quite a few terroristic threats against high schools posted on various social media websites.  West Forsyth High School was the subject of numerous threats, and two students from West were arrested February 22 for the concerning comments they independently made against that school on their social media accounts.  Another student– this time from North Forsyth High School–was arrested just days after the students from West for similar comments which he made against North.

In other Georgia counties, schools are facing similar issues.  Teens have posted videos of themselves loading guns and threatening schools, brought weapons to schools or generally made threatening statements against their schools.  According to the AJC, public safety officials in DeKalb County say that the number of “calls about potential threats or people displaying strange behavior” has tripled in the past two weeks.  Perhaps most concerning, a teacher at Dalton High School was arrested February 28 after firing a gun in an empty classroom.

Thankfully, in all of these incidents no one has been severely injured.  Perhaps in the future we will find a better way to prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place, so that there is no chance for copycat threats to pop up.