Below is an article from today’s Seattle Times ( www.seattletimes.com ).
For a long time I, personally, have viewed the media as putting so much emphasis on these school killings and making guns……not the troubled children…the big issue here.
Anyway, about *this* particular circumstance. It seems that now any kid can shut down a school and gain the attention, thanks to the media freeding frenzy on issues such as Columbine. And this will serve to fuel the issue. I think it is worth discussing only because this is what makes the news. The rapes in my town are only reported in the “police blotter” section. Instances of non lethal self defense using a firearm are the same. But this is front page news. So that more people can try and take my right to protect myself from crime away.
Posted at 06:05 a.m. PST; Monday, November 1, 1999

Threats cause Eastlake High to shut down today

by Janet Burkitt
Seattle Times staff reporter
Classes at Eastlake High School on the Sammamish Plateau were canceled today after school administrators learned of threats made against students and staff members in an Internet chat room.

School officials would say little about the content of the threats last night, except that they were “very specific in their violent intent,” said Richard Duval, Lake Washington School District spokesman.

Though he would not say exactly when the violent acts were supposed to happen, he said, “We thought it was wise to close school (today).”

Two weeks ago, Puyallup’s Ferrucci Junior High School was closed after a bomb threat was e-mailed to the school over a dedicated computer system that allows parents to communicate with the school.

The co-principals of Eastlake were advised to pay attention to the chat room this weekend, though it was not clear exactly when the statements were made. Duval also did not know what kind of chat room it was, but said it was the first time school officials had heard of threats made there.

School administrators notified the King County Sheriff’s Office and decided late yesterday afternoon to close school, notifying students and parents by phone.

They planned to speak with authorities again today and decide what to do about classes for the rest of the week.

Before Eastlake opened in 1994, faculty visited Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., to gather school-reform ideas. The 1,200 students at Eastlake are mostly white and upper class, similar demographically to those at Columbine, where two students killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves last spring.

“There’s a certain level (of threats) you can ignore, and a certain level you can’t ignore,” said Duval, the school-district spokesman. “When people start making specific threats of violence, you can’t ignore it.”

Janet Burkitt’s phone-message number is 206-515-5689. Her e-mail address is [email protected]

Copyright ? 1999 The Seattle Times Company