Police
Investigate Middle School Death Threats
Tom Duggan
NORTH ANDOVER - Several North Andover
Middle School students are being
investigated by the North Andover police
for personal profiles posted on the
America On Line Internet service
threatening to harm fellow students and
naming at least one teacher and a
classmate the student pledges to kill.
These threats were repeatedly posted in
on-line chat rooms as well as in the
students personal profiles
available for anyone with the students
screen name to see.
One of the students being
investigated by North Andover Police
lists a profile saying that his life
goal is to kill Mr. (name
withheld) and (name withheld) a
fellow student. Mr. (X) is a teacher at
the North Andover Middle School.
According to documents, in one on-line
profile a student promises
and one day im gonna kill somebody so bad
there mother will know who it was the
second they see there sons skin stapled
to a tree and there bones burned in a pit
fire I made.
Another incident being investigated by
the North Andover police involves a chat
room conversation where a student asked
another if they wanted to have a knife
fight after school. In that chat room the
boy who threatened the knife fight also
said that he often dreamt about killing.
Members of the North Andover Police would
not comment on the record about the
particulars of the ongoing investigation,
calling it cyber-bullying.
Documents found in The Valley Patriot
mailbox detailed several explicit
internet conversations where a middle
school boy talks about rape
and fantasizes about committing violence
against his fellow classmates, neighbors
and specific students he alleges have
treated him badly.
One middle school mother asked The Valley
Patriot, How do we know if these
children who make such threats are really
serious? How do we know if this is just
kids being stupid or if we may have
another Columbine on our hands?
The reality is that parents
need to be just as involved, if not more
so, as they are with any other activities
that their children are involved with;
just as they would be for after school
activities, who their children are making
friends with or playing with, etcetera
said North Andover police officer Dan
Cronin who investigates cyber bullying
and computer crimes.
Parents should take an active roll
in learning the online identities of
their childrens friends and what
identities their children are using. If a
child is being bullied on the internet,
it is no different than if it is
happening in the school yard. Any parents
that are intimidated by computers or the
internet should seek educational
instruction or even have their children
teach them what the child knows about the
computer and Internet, he said.
A child should not have internet
access when they are alone. When they do,
it should be in a location in the home
where their activity can be observed or
monitored. There is an abundance of
information for parents at http://www.missingkids.com
that cover a wide range of safety topics,
he concluded.
North Andover School Committee member
Charles Ormsby said that he had not been
informed of these threats against
students and teachers at the Middle
School, and therefore he would not
comment on the specific charges.
However, when asked his opinion of the
appropriate response to such threats and
cyber-bullying, he responded, I dont
think threatening to kill people should
be characterized as bullying. Doing so
downplays the serious nature of such
threats. Threatening someones life
is extremely serious and we should treat
it as such. If a student is guilty of
making such threats, both the police and
the School Department should impose very
tough sanctions so that other students
get a clear and unambiguous message: Such
behavior will not be tolerated and will
be severely punished.
According to sources at the North Andover
Middle School the students being
investigated are still attending classes
every day. It is not known if the teacher
has been notified of the threat and if
any steps have been taken to protect the
teacher, his family or the threatened
student.
Help for Parents
According to the website onlineteendangers.com,
author David Kent Jones has created a
handbook that parents can download for
free, which explains the five greatest
internet dangers teenagers face and how
to avoid them. The book also provides a
checklist for parents to use on internet
safety and ways to discuss internet
safety with their teens. Simple things,
like keeping the computer in a public
area and not allowing your teen to use a
webcam, can help keep them safe.
One of the biggest dangers discussed by
Jones is online harassment. Jones
discusses how some teens have a different
personality when on-line. He discusses
how a mild mannered teen takes on a
bullying personality while chatting
on-line and the dangers such a bully
poses.
According to Officer.com,
cyber bullying laws were not in effect in
Missouri when 13 year old Megan Meier
went to myspace.com and developed a
relationship with someone named Josh.
After forming this relationship on line,
Josh then turned on Megan and
began tormenting and insulting Megan,
calling her derogatory names, and
suggesting that the world would be a
better place without her. Megan,
who had emotional issues and suffered
from depression, subsequently committed
suicide.
It turned out that Josh was
not really a teenage boy, but rather, was
a local mother who was upset with Megan
because she was no longer friends with
her daughter. The woman could not
be prosecuted because there were no laws
regarding cyber stalking or cyber
bullying. After this tragic incident, the
local Missouri Alderman passed cyber
harassment misdemeanor laws. Many
other states have passed their own cyber
harassment and bullying laws, including
Massachusetts. MGL Chapter 156, Section
43 is Massachusetts criminal
harassment statute, which includes cyber
activity.
According to the Essex County District
Attorneys Office, kids can be
prosecuted for criminal harassment or
even stalking based on these online
interactions. Just three incidents
targeting an individual and causing that
person distress constitutes illegal
behavior. If those interactions include
attacks on a persons religious or
ethnic background or sexuality, then it
can constitute a civil-liberties
violation, and a felony offense according
to wickedlocal.com
Here in Massachusetts, there is also the
Massachusetts Crimes Against Children
Taskforce (ICAC). As stated on the Essex
County D.A. website, the Massachusetts
State Police is the lead agency for the
taskforce in Massachusetts. The
Massachusetts ICAC Task Force provides
training to law enforcement,
investigative support, and internet
safety awareness presentations to
schools, parents and interested public
and private organizations.
The Massachusetts ICAC Task Force also
acts as the contact for the National
Center for Missing and exploited Children
Cybertip line and provides computer
forensic capabilities directed towards
crimes against children. More information
about ICAC can be found on the Essex
County D.A.s website.
There are many other websites available
to help parents learn about
cyber-bullying and cyber-harassment,
including wiredsafety.org,
stopcyberbullying.org, and netsmartz.org
where parents can report cyber-stalking,
harassment or bullying.
North Andover parents can contact Officer
Tracy Castiglione, the school resource
officer who assists families regarding
internet safety.
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