I'm probably going to be blunt with this post, and people may get offended...and no offense (irony), I don't particularly care anymore. So many times I worry about being in media and the public eye and picking and choosing what I say -- and that's the problem. Everyone just tries to appease each other instead of do what's right.
So with that said, GIGANTIC shoutout to the Epping, Hampton, and Somersworth Police Departments, as well as Epping High, Somersworth High, and the Seacoast School of Technology for putting their foots down and doing what needs to be done.
Since the Parkland, Florida school shooting last week, there have been 3 incidents that have gone down which...they're just stupid. They're stupid and the people behind them are making stupid decisions. I'd really hope that seeing the 18th school shooting in 6 weeks of 2018 would've opened student's eyes to look out for each other or not make such stupid statements, but I guess I overestimated the hope in humanity.
Because literally DAYS after the Parkland shooting went down, there was a threat at the Seacoast School of Technology where someone threatened to "shoot up" the school. And thankfully, the word was passed to faculty, who passed it to Hampton Police, and the threat maker was arrested. Then right after that, there was a threat at Epping High School, which was passed along to Epping Police and THEY made an arrest. And as recently as yesterday, after catching wind of a threat made toward Somersworth High on social media, Somersworth Police arrested the kid that made THAT post.
And you know what? Good. All the power to them. And I don't even care if there are kids who hear this stuff and tell a faculty member and they're seen as a tattler -- better a tattler than a damn corpse. Because enough is enough. We live in a world now where you can't take threats as empty anymore, because like Parkland found out -- it's not just kids being kids and doing and saying stupid things anymore.
So to the kids on social media or snapchat who name kids as doing or saying stuff, then post a follow-up saying to delete everything because people are getting all uppity about it? STOP. Because YOU'RE part of the problem. By not passing the message, you're not stopping what COULD happen. And if it IS an empty threat and you saying something gets someone, even a friend, in trouble...that's on THEM, not you. It's not your problem they're willing to say absolutely stupid things, especially when things like Parkland just happened.
Before this blog goes even longer, I'm posting stuff I said last week on Facebook Live as a reaction to Parkland. So watch it if you want, or don't...your choice.