Dear Families,

We’d like to welcome you back despite all the challenges that we are facing. Many students took the time to post and communicate with each other over the break about their time away from school, and we hope they continue to have positive interactions online with each other as we start the second half of the school year.

On top of the challenges we face due to the surge of COVID, 2021 ended on a negative note before the winter break due to the cautious atmosphere stemming from the nationwide TikTok social media threat against schools. Although we were fortunate that no incidents related to this threat happened at our school, we need to work together to stop this behavior.

Social media “anonymous confession” accounts are a recent digital trend that is threatening the wellbeing and safety of our campus life. Many posts on these sites are negative, and include bullying or threatening language. These negative posts are then reposted and shared multiple times. Parents and guardians, we need your help. Please talk to your child about the dangers and ramifications of posting or reposting inappropriate material such as threats, rumors, or online bullying.

These types of social media accounts are detrimental and harmful to our students and staff and posts containing inappropriate material such as threats (even if later admitted to be a joke or not intended to harm anyone) will be reported to law enforcement whenever they are brought to our attention to keep our campus safe. Online bullying is often a precursor to incidents involving self-harm or even suicide to its targetted victims. We don’t want students to become desensitized to the alarms we need to raise for their safety if a credible threat arises.

We take all threats to our school seriously and will pursue every course of action to maintain a safe learning environment. We appreciate those who come forward to make us aware of threats and abhorrent online behavior. We will look into each incident and confront students misusing social media. They could face discipline or criminal charges depending on the content they are posting. Even when posting anonymously, there is a digital trail that can be investigated to reveal a poster’s identity.

School counselors and Student Support Center are available for students who are in need of social emotional support as a result of these social media accounts. If any students know of any similar accounts or concerning posts, please contact a school administrator.