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Friday, December 13, 2013

People rely on news from official sources.

Here at East Niagara Post, we attempt to give you the most accurate information possible. Whether that information comes from a press release, a first-hand account or the word on the street, we strive to bring you the most up-to-date information possible.

Sometimes, as in the case of the alleged threat at North Park Junior High School, that is incredibly difficult.

What we heard from parents of North Park students was that a student at the school had gotten into a fight with another student and vowed to take revenge - with a gun - upon his return to school on Monday. If anyone got in his way, they were going to get shot too, is what we were told.

What we got from official sources, including the Lockport Police Department and the Lockport City School District is that there was a threat of some sort made by someone but it wasn't anything to worry about.

North Park Junior High School Principal Dr. Ryan Shoenfeld sent an incredibly vague letter home to North Park parents on Wednesday saying that there was some sort of threat made but precautions were put into place that made that threat a non-issue, and the threat itself wasn't real.

In short, what Shoenfeld told parents was that there was never a threat but they're adding a police presence to the junior high for two weeks in an effort to show strength.

The letter goes on to complain about rumors in the community, obviously alluding to the discussion parents were having about the threat, many of whom had heard from their children that a problem student was bringing a gun to school on Monday hoping to exact revenge on another student and would further take out anyone in his way.

The junior high's statement to parents was so vague, however, that it left parents questioning the validity, accuracy and even factual or full-disclosure of information by the school administration. Likewise, the police department statement on the issue was also vague, leaving more questions than answers.

In the absence of fact, people tend to draw their own conclusions. Sometimes those conclusions are based on logic. Sometimes they're based on fancy. But they obviously can't be based on fact if the facts are withheld.

If Dr. Shoenfeld and the Lockport police want people to not draw their own conclusions, they should be more forthright with them. We understand not wanting to cause a panic, but we believe that their vagueness may have just caused more panic than simply being forthright would have.

Whether or not a student threatened to shoot up the school come Monday, it is the most detailed information anyone has. The fact that it may be wholly inaccurate is neither here nor there, it is something tangible that people can wrap their heads around and understand.

Many parents have said that they're keeping their kids home on Monday. Who could blame them? When all they get from official sources is "there's nothing to see here," they're forced to come to their own conclusions of what the situation is and act on those conclusions.

We hope that in the future the Lockport City School District and the Lockport Police Department would be more open with what they had heard instead of leaving parents to come up with their own ideas of what's going on.

In the absence of official fact-filled statements regarding the situation that occurred leading up to the concerns of safety threats at North Park Junior High School, we are inclined to listen to some of the information presented by the students and parents, or "rumors" as stated by the school, that have surfaced. Those rumors say that on Monday a student is bringing a gun to school with the intention of using it. Like many of the concerns voiced by parents of North Park students, we wouldn't want our kids anywhere near that situation either.

It will be interesting to see how many NPJHS students are "sick" on Monday. We know that if we had kids at the school, ours would be.

— Editor, ENP

PERSPECTIVES are the opinions of staff of East Niagara Post and may not be indicative of the opinions of our advertisers. 

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