Representatives from the Broome County Sheriff’s Office gave a social media safety presentation to students and staff at Windsor Central High School Tuesday.
Law enforcement officials are raising awareness and providing education to students, parents, and community members about the types of threats received by schools, especially via social media – and the appropriate way to report them. They stress that people not repost threats, but instead report them.
Deputies reviewed the types and origins of threats schools often receive, how the school responds, how law enforcement investigates, who is held accountable, how students and staff should report threats, and that people should report threats as quickly as possible.
One of the messages from the presentation was that reposting and resharing threats doesn’t make anyone safer.
“It’s important because, with the significant increase in social media use by students and the community, threats to schools are reshared, causing greater panic and disturbance, which can prolong the investigation by law enforcement. A lot of these threats originate from other countries, but because people can reshare them thinking they are trying to help, they are actually hurting efforts,” said Broome County Sheriff’s Captain Benjamin Harting.
“It’s important for our students to understand their role in reporting any threats of safety or violence against the school or others rather than reposting. They play a vital role in ensuring the safety of everyone and allowing us to take the important steps to ensure everyone is safe,” said WCHS principal Toby Youngs. “We appreciate the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office for coming and sharing the message with our students.”
Representatives from the Sheriff’s Office will make the same presentation to parents on Thursday night, November 21st at 6pm at WCHS.