Principal responds
to Valley Patriot story on internet death
threats
Tom Duggan
NORTH ANDOVER- Last month The Valley
Patriot reported a news story on our
front page: “Several North Andover
Middle School students are being
investigated by the North Andover police
for personal profiles posted on the AOL
Internet service threatening to harm
fellow students and naming at least one
teacher and a classmate the student
pledges to ‘kill.’”
(last month's story)
One of the students being investigated by
North Andover Police lists a profile
saying that his “life goal” is
to “kill Mr. (X) 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.’”
Three days after the April edition of The
Valley Patriot hit the newsstands, Middle
School Principal Joan McQuade sent a
letter home to parents addressing the
story. Her letter states:
“On Thursday, April 4th, a local
paper The Valley Patriot, published an
article about students at the North
Andover Middle School. The topic was
cyber-bullying and threatening. While the
paper offered some helpful and logical
tips for parents for parents at the end
of the article, the headline and
allegations written about NAMS’
students are concerning to anyone reading
the front page.”
The letter addressed some parents’
concerns that a safety threat currently
exists at the school but there was no
mention as to what actions, if any, were
taken by the police or the school. The
letter also did not mention what actions
were (or have been) taken to protect the
teacher and or students who were
threatened by name in the on line chat.
“In this particular situation,”
principal McQuade’s letter
continues, “standard protocol was
followed. In brief, a few weeks ago a
parent brought information to the police
regarding cyber-bullying and threatening
involving some of our students. Officer
Castiglione carried out an extensive
investigation and made a determination
that the students involved made very poor
choices; however, the evidence that she
gathered indicated a low threat
situation. While this is considered an
out of school issue, we chose to involve
ourselves in partnership with the police
for the benefit of our families.”
Sources at the North Andover Middle
School say that the students who made the
on-line death threats are still attending
the school but that classes have been
rearranged to segregate the students who
were threatened from those making the
threats.
Principal McQuade said that the school
and the police do collaborate and that,
even though some incidents do not take
place in school, NAMS’ faculty work
closely with police.
“I’d like to take this
opportunity to inform our school
community about our collaborative
relationship with the North Andover
Police Department and the process we have
in place for communication,” the
letter states. “Standard procedures
in any incident that the police and/or
NAMS’ administration feels may put
student(s) safety at risk, communication
is initiated from either the school or
police side depending on the
circumstances.”
“Officer Tracy Castiglione, our
school resource officer, spends at
minimum one day here weekly and is always
available when needed. Our ultimate goal
is to assist our students and their
families on any issue that could be
viewed as a police or safety matter.
Regardless if a situation arises in or
outside of school, Officer Castiglione
and NAMS’ administration attempt to
be as proactive as possible with guiding
our parents and students towards
appropriate solutions.”
“In closing, I hope I have
alleviated safety concerns by explaining
the collaborative partnership we share
with the NAPD in order to keep our
students safe. NAMS’ students,
faculty and parents continue to strive to
make NAMS’ the best teaching and
learning environment possible. We are
proud of our school and our students. As
always, please do not hesitate to call us
with comments or questions.”
“Students with issues of bullying,
whether or not it is by computer, phone
or in person are encouraged to talk to a
guidance councilor or contact officer
Tracy Casitglione at the North Andover
Police Department.”
For on-line resources on cyber-bullying
parents can visit the following websites:
www.onlineteendangers.com
www.Officer.com
www.missingkids.com
For news tips please email us at valleypatriot@aol.com
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pictures and material are
(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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