Letter to the Editor: How social media overreaction undermines school safety and student well-being 

I believe we need to sit down and take a long, hard look at how and what we are signaling to our children regarding risk assessment, the danger of anecdotes and emotional overreactions.

In the past week, an online threat made to Quincy Public Schools was quickly reviewed and deemed non-threatening. During that brief process, the school administration clearly and promptly communicated they were following their standard safety protocol, the procedure in place when dealing with a potential threat of violence at school.

Once it was determined that the threat posed no danger, activities resumed. This should have been the end of the story. 

Unfortunately, due to the overuse of social media for obtaining information, the Internet erupted with rumors. Many of these rumors were spread by parents, even after the school had clearly communicated the claims were either entirely false or had no supporting evidence.

This led to concerns the following day that the “real” event would happen then. Out of empathy, our QJHS principal implemented a “soft” lockdown and increased the police presence to alleviate anxiety students might have. This intent was again communicated to parents, yet social media posts continued to circulate. Large numbers of parents picked up their children from school, startling both those who were taken out of school and those left behind to continue learning.

There is an inherent risk in everything we do and everywhere we go. The key is teaching our children how to properly assess the risk/benefit trade-off. For example, if I attend a secure school like Quincy Junior High School with effective safety protocols, it is extremely unlikely (around 1 in 12.7 million, according to Consensus AI data from the CDC) that I will be harmed. However, it is highly likely that I will benefit from learning both academically and socially.

We have allowed social media drama and anecdotal evidence to drive public overreaction, placing school administrators in untenable positions. We should be less concerned with what a distant relative’s friend shared on social media and more focused on what our children eat and watch online, both of which pose much greater risks to their overall health and well-being than someone posting online about harming others, especially when the FBI and Quincy Police Department are investigating the matter.

Michael Miller
Quincy, Illinois