Copy Cat
The ink was barely dry from the first wave of stories on the Colorado tragedy before the local angle developed. Attention seeking kids began threatening copy cat crimes. Students began to fear their fellow classmates. “They see those kids getting their faces on the news and it’s kind of scary because that’s what they want and they might go to extremes to get it,” says 17-year-old Shanna.
Schools have increased security with gun searches and lock downs and media which often refuses to report such tactics now feels compelled to keep communities informed with front page headlines. Experts say it’s possibly the worst kind of reaction to a copy cat because kids who usually make the threats are looking for attention and power. “There’s a desire to be noticed, to have people see them, to have people be impressed with their power,” says child psychiatrist Shannon Croft.
The most appropriate reaction is to minimize the focus, says Croft, and make sure specific children making the threats get some help. Finally, kids and experts say parents can help by communicating with kids and making their own children feel unique and special so they don’t try to find attention and power in destructive ways.
What Parents Should Know
School Administrators, teachers and psychologists are urging parents across the country to become more involved in their children’s lives. “There needs to be some kind of on-going relationship between the child and parent,” says child psychologist Shannon Croft, “where you start to get to know each other again and find out what’s going on.”
Kids who feel disconnected from their families are more likely to commit violent crimes and threaten to hurt others. Experts say parents should know their children’s friends, know what their kids are doing in school and after school, know what video games kids are playing and what television shows they watch.
Finally, encourage kids to talk about their feelings and reactions to the Colorado school shootings. Downplay any media attention that local copy cat threats receive. Experts say parents should find activities and individual ways that a child can pursue interests and find positive, constructive, attention.
|
They see kids getting their faces on the news and it’s kind of scary because that’s what they want and they might go to extremes to get it. --Shanna, age
17 |
| |
|
Experts say most kids who threaten copy cat crimes don’t actually follow through with dangerous or violent behavior. They often feel alone and left out and are looking for attention and power. Still, adults
should check out every threat quietly and without panic. Teach kids
that pranks and other empty threats don’t yield power but punishment.
|
|
|
Many news agencies struggle with whether to report copy cat threats. In the past, some media outlets have refused to report school bomb threats and other attention grabbing acts. Still, some journalists say the nature and timing of the threats following the Colorado shootings make them newsworthy. The swell of threats in local communities obligates media to report and warn local residents about the worrisome activities going on in kids’ schools and surrounding communities. Newspapers and television can attempt to downplay the rumors and pranks, but most journalists agree the high number of threats cannot be ignored. |
|
Resources
|
|
|
For more information
on copy cat threats contact the American Association of School
Administrators at |
For
more information on parenting issues contact us: Connecting with Kids |