Hamilton students facing suspension after sharing threating posts

Neither threat was against Hamilton City Schools, said Hamilton City Schools Associate Superintendent Andrea Blevins. The posts shared on Sept. 11 were related to the Middletown incident, and this weekend’s posts were related to a school believed to be out of state.

“Those kids shared it on Snapchat, and continued to share and share and share,” said Blevins. “A Hamilton student reshared that, and that induces panic in our district. They don’t realize that’s Middletown or wherever else that could be.”

A 9-year-old Middletown City Schools student is facing a felony charge of inducing panic following a Middletown police investigation, the Journal-News reported last week. The boy sent a threatening Snapchat message through a fifth-grade group chat, according to police. The boy admitted to creating a fake Snapchat account and making threats.

The Springfield area has also experienced threats of violence as two elementary schools within the city school district received threats based on information received Monday, according to the Springfield News-Sun. No other school within the Springfield City School District was affected Monday, and they were the fifth and sixth buildings to be targeted within the last week.

Even if the posts didn’t directly mention Hamilton, Blevins said they’re investigated as credible threats until proven otherwise.

“What we start hearing, is we have parents who will send us four, five, six emails on the same incident,” she said, adding that a lot of times it’s “just misinformation that’s being re-spread, but it’s kind of like glitter, once you get it out of the bottle, there’s no way of getting that back in.”

Instead of sharing the post, students and parents are encouraged to report them directly to the school.

In this weekend’s communication from the Hamilton City Schools, officials said they “want to remind families and students that if you see something alarming (either on social media, in text, or in conversation with others), please report it.”

Reports can be made anonymously through Hamilton’s SchoolMessenger’s Quick Tip Form or the Ohio Department of Homeland Security’s Safer Ohio School Tipline. Administrators also said parents can contact their child’s building administrator directly by calling during the school day or emailing the building principal.