Canyons School District asks students stop reposting unsubstantiated threat on social media
Sep 18, 2024, 6:42 PM | Updated: 7:05 pm
SANDY — A social media post that warns of a planned school shooting has made its way across the nation, as far away as Pennsylvania, and now locally.
The Canyons School District said students have been sharing it online through social media. The post appears to be the screenshot of a text message that claims two boys plan to shoot up a school the next day.
That social media post has been found not to be credible. However, district says there’s a lesson to learn about reposting it online.
The SafeUT app is a tool that school districts around the state have found extremely useful to investigate threats of violence.
Over 30 tips have flooded in through the app since Monday from one threat that has been debunked.
“It’s caused a problem, because obviously the information is heightening a lot of fear,” said Jeff Haney, spokesman for the Canyons School District.
He said the threat, which is unspecific in its target, started making its rounds on social media with Alta High School students. It then began popping up in different schools throughout the district.
“Students are reposting and sending it on to their friends rather than simply reporting it and allowing the school administration, their parents, and police to investigate it,” Haney said.
Threat not credible
He said the school district has investigated the threat multiple times and found it to not be credible. The threat spooked other school districts nationwide including a school on the other side of the country last week.
When it keeps being reposted online, Haney said the cycle of fear is reactivated.
“We want it to stop when students first see the post, and then they report it to safety, or their parents or their principal, instead of casting it out again online to even more people,” he said.
Which is why he says to remember to report, not repost.
Haney said when you see a threat, stick to simply reporting it to the school’s administration or on the SafeUT app.
“SafeUT is staffed all the time by the people who handle the tips,” Haney said.
Haney encourages both students and their parents to download the app to have for reporting threats properly.
