Frustrated Teacher Says Student Who Threatened To Harm His Entire Class Wasn't Disciplined & Was Allowed To Come Back To School
She claimed that the school admin didn't listen to her safety concerns and allowed the student to return to class.
wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock An elementary school teacher expressed her fear and frustration after a student who made a violent threat was given no repercussions from the school's administration. In a TikTok video, Ms. Craver, who teaches fourth grade, shared that she not only feels unsafe in her own classroom but is worried about the safety of the other kids after an active threat was made against their lives by another student.
A student confided in her that he wanted to harm his entire class.
“I had a student direct chat me and message me and tell me that he was gonna kill the class,” Craver revealed.
The message immediately startled her, but she attempted to clarify with the student what his intentions really were. The student reiterated that it wasn't a typo or mistake — that he meant it when he said he wanted to kill everyone in the class.
Craver quickly pulled the student from the classroom, called his parents, and alerted the school admin of the situation, admitting that the message scared her.
"We just had a situation where we had a student with a loaded gun in their locker. I had a student bring a BB gun to school, in my classroom," she recalled. "Yes, this is fourth grade, but there are second-graders bringing guns to school."
The boy's mother was called to the school and she reprimanded her son, who began crying. He was then removed from Craver's classroom, however, the punishment didn't stick.
The administration didn't discipline the student and he was allowed back to school the next day.
At the end of the day, Craver was approached by the same student who asked to speak to her in private. The young boy explained that he was upset that she'd told everyone about his message and it made him "very mad."
Craver was taken aback by the student's explanation and rebutted that she wasn't just going to ignore the violent threat that he made against her and all of his classmates. Unfortunately, the very next day, the student was back in her class and no disciplinary actions had been taken against him. He was simply allowed to come back to school as if nothing had happened.
Photo: Ground Picture / Shutterstock
Flabbergasted, Craver pointed out that under no circumstances should that be allowed. The student should've, at the very least, been removed from her class after making such a violent threat.
Determined to see some repercussions, Craver contacted the school administrators, but they were no help. "I'm trying to understand what's going on because, at this point, I feel like the action is being justified or OK'd. And the student doesn't understand the severity of the situation," she shared.
“I’m being told that I just have my own personal beliefs about what the consequences should be. That he was just upset. That the threat isn't valid," she continued.
Craver shared that she was upset with the school's response, particularly "in a world where there are school shootings happening [and] where we've had multiple guns in this building."
Craver is justified in feeling worried about the amount of school shootings that have happened at public schools in this country. According to CNN, there have already been 13 school shootings in 2024. Around three of the shootings happened on college campuses while nine were on K-12 school grounds.
Recent years have seen a stark increase in school shootings, with 2021, 2022, and 2023 all setting records since at least 2008.
Craver insisted that she shouldn't have to advocate for herself because the admin repeatedly handled these types of situations poorly.
Craver argued that it was ridiculous that this student was allowed back to school and in her class. This is not the only example of her school's admin failing to take action and refusing to take the teachers' safety concerns seriously. In fact, the student who brought a BB gun was also allowed to return to school the next day.
"This is crazy to me," she said. "You gotta parent these kids. You gotta be a social worker. You gotta deal with these behaviors, and then I also gotta deal with wondering what does this kid mean when he said he wanted to kill all of us?"
Craver insisted that she wasn't overreacting or being illogical — she was justifiably angry that no one in her school's admin even bothered to tell her face-to-face that they were putting the potentially dangerous student back in her class.
An education expert named Justin Baeder argued on TikTok that teachers should have the right to refuse to service students who they deem dangerous to their well-being and that of other students in a classroom. Baeder's opinion stemmed from the fact that many teachers are not equipped to handle unruly or violent students and shouldn't be expected to put their lives on the line because school administrators aren't ensuring classrooms are safe for everyone.
"I think at some point, as educators, we have to stand up and demand the right to refuse service and say, 'You know what, if there is not a placement for that child, it's because I'm the cheapest person to inconvenience. It's because somebody is willing to dump the problem on me and as long as I'm willing to go along with that, that solves the problem for other people,'" Baeder said.
Baeder continued, adding that so many teachers in this country with no special training or support are expected to deal with the issues under the guise of "inclusion."
Teachers in this country are put through the ringer time and time again. Meaningful actions need to be taken to ensure that educators like Craver are able to have learning environments where everyone's voices are heard and teachers and students alike feel safe.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.