Today, Dr. Nesbitt, the principal of Haverford High School sent out a robocall to all of the parents of high school students. The text of the message, about a threat the school received via social media site Twitter, is posted on the Haverford School District website. Here it is in full: Late last night (March 23) a student posted a threatening comment towards the high school on Twitter. The administration worked cooperatively with the Haverford Township Police who visited the student’s home and determined that the threat was not credible. Dr. Nesbitt spoke with the police and the family late last night. All believe the student made an impromptu very bad decision. To add to everyone’s comfort level, the high school had additional staff and police present in the building when school began today. The principal met with the student and parents at 7:15 in the morning and appropriate disciplinary action was initiated. We would like to reiterate that this was a spontaneous posting and that it was not a premeditated, credible threat. We would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that you should always be careful regarding what messages you post in the online world. Thank you. (Read that over again. It truly is outstanding. It is anti-panic. It is practical. It is a perfect response to a regrettable mistake). Some chatter on Twitter names a student suspected of the threat but we won't repeat the name here. The student might be a minor. Also, the whole incident might be a bit blown out of proportion (by the students, not our excellent and calm-headed authorities), as one student tweet suggests:   A few weeks ago, the reported Owen Boss of Patch.com put up a little article wondering if the bomb-threat evacuations that have happened in other parts of the US will happen in Haverford. The article sites the use of anonymous social media application Yik Yak. The offending message containing an alleged bomb threat against Haverford was … [Read more...]