Canton School Superintendent Addresses TikTok Threat for Friday

CANTON, MA - In response to a TikTok challenge encouraging students to threaten gun violence in schools at all levels, Interim Superintendent Derek Folan issued a letter Thursday afternoon to families alering them of the situation.

Although the post did not emerge locally, Folan released the letter as a proactive attempt to alert parents of concerns and alert them to the concerns about students sharing social media posts.

"The Canton Public Schools District has become aware of a troubling post that has been shared widely this week on the social media platform TikTok," Folan's letter said. "The post refers to a threat to school safety 'for every school in the USA, even elementary,' on Friday, December 17, 2021.

"The post appears to be part of a national TikTok trend and did not originate in our school District or any local districts," the letter continued. "We have heard reports from some districts within our state that the same post is circulating in their schools, but generally the post exists at a national level and nothing has emerged in Canton or locally.

"While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously. We are currently working in collaboration with the Canton Police Department. As always, we will have School Resource Officers in our school buildings, walking the hallways and monitoring the school grounds. Due to this matter, we are also taking steps to increase police presence around our buildings as a precautionary measure.

"This situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats. Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff. We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activity and speak with them about proper behavior online," the letter continued.

"If you or your child become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify the principal, a staff member and/or a trusted adult right away.

"As always, thank you for your partnership as we work to ensure a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for our students," the letter stated.

Districts are taking the threat seriously by working with their local police departments to increase officer presence Friday. The Norwood Public Schools issued a similar statement earlier this afternoon. Read the article here.