Great Mills High?
- Thread starter thetruediva
- Start date
sometimes we have to think for our kids. as i mentioned before, i called the school(probably like everyone else, because i couldn't get through) after my kid called me and dad. the situation was already out of hand when he got there so i'm assuming they just said let the kid go instead of saying the matter was already taken care of and kinda being left in limbo to think if you should leave your child there to see if anything happen. I guess had i known(and probably some other parents) it was pretty much taken care of yesterday the school wouldn't have been rushed with parents being concerned about the rumor and the safety of their kids.
terbear1225
Well-Known Member
aren't kids supposed to have their cell phones turned off during the school day. seems to me that if less kids had been breaking the rules and calling their parents about stuff that was completely unsubstantiated rumor, there wouldn't have been such a panic to begin with.
MLGTS08
live.LAUGH.love
Some teacher allow it, and if there is an emergency they allow it. During LHS lockdown we were allowed to use our phones.
terbear1225
Well-Known Member
i can (sort of) understand if there is an emergency, but this was NOT an emergency, it was pure rrumor that was passed along as if it was fact, thus unneccesarily panicking parents and the community.
even in an ACTUAL emergency, a lot of inaccurate inforation can be passed along by students who are not fully apprised of the situation.
even in an ACTUAL emergency, a lot of inaccurate inforation can be passed along by students who are not fully apprised of the situation.
red_explorer
Well-Known Member
I am not even a parent, but was worried about my friend's children.
godsbutterfly
Free to Fly
This has been one of the biggest "spiraling out of control" things I have ever seen and I don't even know what all could have/should have been done better! I'm pretty new to Maryland and I don't know a whole lot about the school systems. I was glad I could get thru to Great Mills and talk to somebody but I still will feel a whole lot better when my step-daughter walks thru the door!
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There is a plan when there is a viable threat. In this case, the threat was dealt with yesterday. Today, students started a text message rumor, and before people knew it, parents panicked and there was a strangle hold on the school. In the situation involving LHS, there was an actual reported threat, rather than students texting each other causing rumors to run rampart.
i authorize my kid to use theirs in emergencies and there was atleast 1 teaher who apparently thought it was o.k. the rumor was told to be unsubstantiated well after the situation got out of hand.
as i said before, if it was handled yesterday, why couldn't the automated call be sent to the parents and hopefully it wouldn't have caused as much panic.
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K
Kain99
Guest
May I be honest for a moment? I thank God kids text message this type of information. Maybe if someone caught wind at VA Tech or Columbine things would be different! Yay!!! Kids!
The principle of the school made a televised announcement asking kids for information. That fueled with the rumors that ignited this candle. My child called me frantic at 10:30 insisting to come home. I tried to call her as best I could but to no avail, she insisited she was scared. I had her picked up and even though it was all a hoax in the end, I feel safer knowing that she came home.
An hour after all of the commotion, I spoke to a friend on the phone who had also picked up her child. She reminded me that the kid that did the last shooting had been kicked out, had apparently made threats and a week later came back an carried them out. She also said better safe then sorry.
It freaks me out as a parent to think my kids should have to worry about bomb threats, stabbings and shootings. That speaks volumes about the deterioration of our society.
usagent
New Member
When I was a kid there would have been a line at the pay phone.
That would be a school issue. I don't know?
"May I be honest for a moment? I thank God kids text message this type of information. Maybe if someone caught wind at VA Tech or Columbine things would be different! Yay!!! Kids!"
Yea, maybe in a real threat, unfortunately when things aren't going on then you have pandemonium.
"May I be honest for a moment? I thank God kids text message this type of information. Maybe if someone caught wind at VA Tech or Columbine things would be different! Yay!!! Kids!"
Yea, maybe in a real threat, unfortunately when things aren't going on then you have pandemonium.
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
I got this as a Myspace bulletin...
Rumors of Shooting Cause Panic at Great Mills High School
GREAT MILLS, St. Mary's County - 10/18/2007
By Sean Rice and Anna Dailey
A RUMORED THREAT of a shooting planned for today at Great Mills High School caused a panic among students and parents, resulting in many parents pulling their kids out of school early.
The rumor, and ensuing barrage of calls and visits by parents, was fueled by numerous students calling and sending out text messages – in response to a higher police presence at the school today.
Five Sheriff’s Deputies were on hand at the school Thursday, in response to “vague information” provided by students to school administration on Wednesday afternoon, said St. Mary’s County School’s student services director Kathleen Lion.
The rumor was that a student would have a gun in school today, and use it during sixth-period lunch, confirmed St. Mary’s Sheriff Lt. Ed Willenborg, special operations commander.
“I’m not sure if that was the first rumor or one that it evolved into,” Willenborg said.
A student was arrested in school on Wednesday after a hallway fist fight, Willenborg confirmed. He said there was no indication that had any relation to today’s incident. Also, word was flying around school today that a group of thugs were going to “throw down” during sixth period, which is approximately 12:30 p.m.
Rumors in the school spawned rumors in the community that the school was on lockdown, or that a shooting took place and/or someone spotted a gun.
The school was never on lockdown and nothing became of the threat.
A coincidental report was investigated by police of a suspicious person with a gun at the trailer park across the street from the school, which turned up nothing. The incident was unrelated but helped fuel the rumors transmitted electronically from the Great Mills High School student body.
“That didn’t help,” Willenborg said.
“I think this whole thing got blown out of proportion,” Sheriff Tim Cameron told The Bay Net, adding that extra officers were assigned even though it was “never viewed as a credible threat.”
Lt. Willenborg said all the information received was “very unspecific” and no parts of any of the rumors were substantiated.
Students became alarmed at the extra officers and began calling for their parents to pick them up, said Public Information Officer Zina McGowan-Thomas.
Principal Tracey Heibel attempted to dispel the rumors on the school’s closed-circuit TV mid-morning.
Heibel tried to “reassure the student body that the officers were there to help staff investigate the rumor,” and there was no evidence of threat and school was going on as usual, Thomas said.
Lion said parents began arriving, and after speaking with administrators some chose to take their children home and others to leave their children at school. After learning what was really going on, some students made their own decisions to stay.
At the height of the situation, parents were lined up outside the front door of the school.
The school sent out and telephone message Thursday afternoon to parents explaining the situation, and a letter will also be send home with students, Thomas said.
Students are permitted to have mobile phones in school, but rules state they are to remain turned of during the day.
Rumors of Shooting Cause Panic at Great Mills High School
GREAT MILLS, St. Mary's County - 10/18/2007
By Sean Rice and Anna Dailey
A RUMORED THREAT of a shooting planned for today at Great Mills High School caused a panic among students and parents, resulting in many parents pulling their kids out of school early.
The rumor, and ensuing barrage of calls and visits by parents, was fueled by numerous students calling and sending out text messages – in response to a higher police presence at the school today.
Five Sheriff’s Deputies were on hand at the school Thursday, in response to “vague information” provided by students to school administration on Wednesday afternoon, said St. Mary’s County School’s student services director Kathleen Lion.
The rumor was that a student would have a gun in school today, and use it during sixth-period lunch, confirmed St. Mary’s Sheriff Lt. Ed Willenborg, special operations commander.
“I’m not sure if that was the first rumor or one that it evolved into,” Willenborg said.
A student was arrested in school on Wednesday after a hallway fist fight, Willenborg confirmed. He said there was no indication that had any relation to today’s incident. Also, word was flying around school today that a group of thugs were going to “throw down” during sixth period, which is approximately 12:30 p.m.
Rumors in the school spawned rumors in the community that the school was on lockdown, or that a shooting took place and/or someone spotted a gun.
The school was never on lockdown and nothing became of the threat.
A coincidental report was investigated by police of a suspicious person with a gun at the trailer park across the street from the school, which turned up nothing. The incident was unrelated but helped fuel the rumors transmitted electronically from the Great Mills High School student body.
“That didn’t help,” Willenborg said.
“I think this whole thing got blown out of proportion,” Sheriff Tim Cameron told The Bay Net, adding that extra officers were assigned even though it was “never viewed as a credible threat.”
Lt. Willenborg said all the information received was “very unspecific” and no parts of any of the rumors were substantiated.
Students became alarmed at the extra officers and began calling for their parents to pick them up, said Public Information Officer Zina McGowan-Thomas.
Principal Tracey Heibel attempted to dispel the rumors on the school’s closed-circuit TV mid-morning.
Heibel tried to “reassure the student body that the officers were there to help staff investigate the rumor,” and there was no evidence of threat and school was going on as usual, Thomas said.
Lion said parents began arriving, and after speaking with administrators some chose to take their children home and others to leave their children at school. After learning what was really going on, some students made their own decisions to stay.
At the height of the situation, parents were lined up outside the front door of the school.
The school sent out and telephone message Thursday afternoon to parents explaining the situation, and a letter will also be send home with students, Thomas said.
Students are permitted to have mobile phones in school, but rules state they are to remain turned of during the day.
this was the same info on the baynet; it also was provided as a link above
just think i read it, thinking i was going to find out something different or something new
clevalley
...
Cell phones and emergencies such as this...
My son has a cell phone and takes it with him and it is in his backpack turned off. He knows that if for ANY reason he needs to contact me - especially in a situation like this - he is to do so.
If he gets in trouble for using it, I will evaluate and handle the situation with the school to MY satisfaction. I would think the school would have more of an issue to deal with at that time than kids on cell phones...
My son has a cell phone and takes it with him and it is in his backpack turned off. He knows that if for ANY reason he needs to contact me - especially in a situation like this - he is to do so.
If he gets in trouble for using it, I will evaluate and handle the situation with the school to MY satisfaction. I would think the school would have more of an issue to deal with at that time than kids on cell phones...