In light of an issue that is occurring (mostly back east), we wanted to remind you regarding several items to help keep your children safe as they walk to and from school and also online. Below is a link to a national story regarding “creepy clowns.” Thus far, this has consisted of hoaxes of sightings and complaints, with a few arrests here and there. While this has not become a major issue here, we are hoping that we can circumvent these issues from occurring in the first place.
However, this morning, we have received multiple reports of fake anonymous facebook (and other social media) accounts and pages, using clowns as the profile photo, who then send creepy messages to our students. While we have not run across any directly threatening messages quite yet, we feel it is inevitable. When students feel unsafe, it hinders our ability to provide a quality education. We believe that most of these accounts are student created and are intended to be humorous. Regardless, we must take any threat student safety very seriously. Principals have been made aware of this issue. If your child has been threatened in any way, please contact law enforcement. WE WILL AGGRESSIVELY PURSUE ANY INDIVIDUAL OR STUDENT WHO IS POTENTIALLY CAUSING HARM TO OUR STUDENTS.
We are asking for your help to monitor your child’s technology use and review their social media accounts in particular. We recognize that many students may also be tempted to dress like clowns and go “scare,” people either out in the general public or on school property. In light of the current environment created by these hoaxes, such actions would not be seen as humorous in any way.
Additionally, we are asking you to take the following measures to keep your child safe:
- Students who have been contacted should not accept friend requests or allow people to follow their account who they do not know. Many of the messages we have seen this morning are from anonymous accounts, yet the students accepted the friend request allowing the perpetrator to harass them. Additionally, please block offending accounts. Take screenshots if necessary to preserve inappropriate messages for potential investigation.
- If your child sees threatening messages against other students or against schools in general, those messages should be forwarded to administrators or law enforcement.
When walking to and from school:
- Never approach strangers (dressed like clowns or otherwise), even if they pretend to know you or know your child’s name.
- Students should walk in groups as there is always safety in numbers.
- Students should be familiar with friends, family and neighbors along their walking route to be able to find a safe place to request assistance if necessary.
- Parents should provide supervision for younger students as appropriate.
There are many other common sense tips to help keep kids safe as they walk back and forth to school. We encourage you to have age appropriate dialogue with your child regarding any of these items or any others that would help keep them safe.
It is not our intent to stir up people’s fears regarding these hoaxes. We simply want to remind you of some simple ways we can help keep kids safe, no matter the issue.
