Threats of school shootings: a TikTok challenge that sows fear – rts.ch

Threats of school shootings: a TikTok challenge that sows fear – rts.ch
Threats of school shootings: a TikTok challenge that sows fear – rts.ch

Threats of shootings have recently been made in schools in several cantons. This is a kind of challenge launched on the TikTok platform. All turned out to be false.

A month ago, a shooting threat was discovered in the toilets of Muttenz secondary school in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, accompanied by a date a week later. In total, 650 students aged 12 to 16 are educated there. The school’s principal, Simon Schweizer, remembers his first thoughts when he was informed of the incident. “I thought: oh no, us too!” Similar incidents had already been reported in other schools in the region. The principal immediately contacted the police and informed the school’s teaching staff. Everyone reacted with professionalism and calm. “Luckily we didn’t panic, but the uncertainty and fear was great and palpable.”

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The police quickly responded that the school did not need to be closed. A decision taken on the basis of the text written in the toilets of the school establishment. Shortly afterward, law enforcement discovered which student was behind the hoax. But the fear of certain parents has not disappeared, explains the director of the establishment. Some families did not send their children to school that day. Although the perpetrator was arrested, it shows “what this kind of hoax can trigger and how deep the insecurity or fear of something happening.”

Challenge on Tiktok, nuisance for the police

Simon Schweizer, the school’s principal, assumes that the student who started the hoax was inspired by a challenge that appeared on the TikTok platform. Several young people posted threats of shootings which they wrote on the wall of the toilets of their school. All were false.

But that doesn’t matter to the police. Every threat must be taken seriously, says Adrian Gaugler, spokesperson for the Basel-Landschaft police. “We don’t find this funny at all, because we have to take important measures.” Concretely, this means deploying staff despite limited human resources. It also takes some time to determine whether it’s a bad joke or a serious threat.

Feeling of power

Many young people are unable to correctly assess the consequences of their actions, says Laurent Sedano, an expert in media education, who also runs workshops for young people on TikTok. He notes that the more a subject is discussed, the more young people tend to get involved. According to him, some young people may experience a “sense of power”. Maybe they didn’t feel comfortable at school and wanted to “react.” The expert also explains that adolescents are sensitive to the turmoil that creates around such events: angry people, police, media coverage. Laurent Sedano recommends that teachers approach the topic of social media with their students and discuss what is shown there. Parents should also take the time to think about what their children are consuming.

In Muttenz, the student who made the threat was briefly excluded from school. But he will come back, says director Simon Schweizer. “We will support him, via the school social service. It’s our job.” Another student, in the Basel region, was punished more severely. He had to leave school permanently after threatening to attack his school.

Martina Inglin (SRF)

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