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Just days after a mass shooting, on 30 November, in a Detroit-area school left 4 dead and 7 wounded, some 20 other Michigan school districts canceled in-person classes on 2 December after being hit with a wave of dozens of threats of similar incidents.
The Wall Street Journal reported on 3 December that most of the school districts were in Oakland County, the site of Oxford High School, where the deadly event occurred.
The threats were made chiefly via social media, and despite the challenge of investigating so many, they were eventually all deemed to be not credible; they may have even been someone’s idea of a joke. Nevertheless, if and when the persons making such threats are found, they could be prosecuted for making terroristic threats and face up to 20 years in prison. Thus far, however, no arrests have been made.
TREND FORECAST: It wasn’t that long ago that Trends Journal addressed the sorry state of schools, in the Detroit area and elsewhere; see “DETROIT SCHOOLS: MAJORITY OF KIDS ABSENT. CLASSES GOING ONLINE” (23 Nov 2021) and “PITY THE COVID-WEARY TEACHERS” (16 Nov 2021).
The overwhelming state of American schools is one of immense stress, affecting both teachers and students; see “LOCKDOWN BLUES: MILLIONS GOING MAD” (12 Jan 2021) and “MORE KIDS DIE FROM SUICIDE THAN COVID” (23 Mar 2021). Acknowledging such stress neither explains nor condones mass murder (nor is such stress the sole factor behind such unspeakable acts), but it may help foster some understanding of that which otherwise defies understanding.