BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — If you have kids in school, you may have felt unsure about sending them to school Friday. A challenge on the social media app TikTok, lead to some concern over threats being made to schools.
As TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps used by millennials across the world it has also become one of the most alarming in terms of setting trends that are unsafe for students and families across the nation.
“It’s unfortunately, the reality of the world we live in that a threat across the country can now impact our community and communities across the nation,” said Robert Pair, Bakersfield Police Department PIO.
A threat that started on TikTok caused schools across the nation to take extra precautions with the safety of students, faculty, and staff.
Pair urged all students to by the common alert of if you see something say something.
“If they do see something that is concerning to them, that at least alert their parents because the sooner that law enforcement finds out about this, the sooner that we can get ahead of it to prevent these kinds of tragedies which unfortunately we’ve seen,” said Pair.
Pair said that to the students who are thinking of making school threats on social media think twice.
“Saying that it was a joke is not a defense. These decisions that you make as a kid can echo for the rest of your life,” said Pair.
Pair emphasized the importance of parents talking to their kids about monitoring exactly what they post on their social media accounts.
“Ultimately what parents need to do because they have a stake in this is to have conversations with their kids about their social media presence,” said Pair.
While putting forth a threat might not seem like a crime to the average child there are consequences for actions as such.
“If you are making these types of threats there are repercussions but it's also serious because ultimately people have lost their lives during these types of events so it's definitely a sensitive topic,” said Pair.
The Kern High School District did inform the students and families of Kern County that they will investigate all threats to our schools and take appropriate action against any individual that makes or sends threatening messages.
