PHOENIX — Recently, school threats, bullying and social media have all been in the spotlight, not only from teen-on-teen violence but also after two students were arrested in the Valley last week-- one for making threats and one for bringing a loaded gun to school.
Some are now wondering what possible solutions there are and if more can be done to prevent these situations in Valley schools.
In Phoenix, a juvenile male was arrested and is facing charges after making specific threats to Mountain Sky Junior High School in Phoenix.
"Please help us by talking with your child regarding school safety and the important role they play in reporting suspicious activity or online posts to administration. I have to add that I truly appreciate our students’ willingness to share information with us,” Julia Herman, principal at Mountain Sky Junior High School, said in a communication to parents.
That student, who is neither a current nor former student of the school, according to a district spokesperson, alluded to being bullied in social media posts obtained by 12News.
“For those students in those situations, what were the risks they were facing? And then we also have a secondary risk, which are the kids who experienced it or knew about it found out about it,” Joronda Montaño, a prevention expert, said.
Montaño says in situations like these, questions now have to be answered.
“Working with the child, dealing with the child and finding out what's happening, because we're still talking about a child,” Montaño said. “And we know that when we're talking about childhood, we're talking about impulsivity.”
Across the Valley in Scottsdale, an 11-year-old was arrested after having a gun at Mountainside Middle School.
Juliet Serrato, a mom and teacher at Mountainside Middle School, wrote to her district saying she wants to see changes, but still, she recognizes how political it is.
“This systemic problem starts here. And if we don't fix this, we're not going to have any real meaningful change. And we will just continue to have these incidents and tragedies,” Serrato told 12News.
She recommended implementing programs in Arizona that she saw work in Colorado after Columbine-- like anonymous tip reporting and social-emotional learning.
But, not everyone agrees with that.
12News took these situations to Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne, who said situations like bringing a gun to school need to be prosecuted, adding that for other lesser offenses, he wants the legislature to make traditional discipline a priority.
“But that has disappeared with the ideas of social-emotional learning and things like that. We have to bring back traditional discipline, suspensions and expulsions,” Horne told 12News.
When asked if Horne thought that would have prevented these situations, Horne said he still wants to see the legislature take action to encourage administrators to support teachers in the discipline.
“I think if you have a system where everybody knows that discipline is serious, then they tend to behave more,” Horne said.
Montaño says that kids need connection and communication, which she says starts at home.
“We can’t just sit behind and just expect that our kids are going to maybe grow up and think the same way that we did, it’s a different time period,” Montaño said.
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