Don't Be Stupid MHS

Mason High School has had three harmful threats in the last year. You may be surprised - yes, the affluent and prestigious MHS has had bomb and shooting threats. I personally think the reason we have had these threats is because a greed for attention comes with affluency, and we don't understand the consequences of unintelligent actions. Recently, a straight A student at Mason, aiming for an Ivy League education, was arrested for a threat of harming teachers and students. It was originally a simple joke- just a short text message to his friends about his "plan" to shoot up the school. Someone reported the message, and the student was stripped of his potential Ivy League future and thrown behind bars at the Warren County Jail. What was originally a joke, a call for attention, turned into a nightmare. I told my father about the situation surrounding the student, and we came up with three things that we all need to work on.

• Never post or send anything that you would not want to tell your parents at the dinner table. I am an offender of posting and saying some stupid things, but this is really a rule we all need to work at. I doubt the student would have told his parents that he was planning on hurting a teacher.
• Realize that just because something is a joke doesn't mean it can be disregarded. When the police searched the student's home, they found no dangerous weapons and concluded the students had no capability of harming anyone. However, either way the student can be seen with his ankles cuffed in a detention center. If a joke could potentially be interpreted in a dangerous way, keep it to yourself.
• Understand the consequences. Your entire future can slip away by pressing send on a message you will come to regret. This student obviously wasn't thinking about the fact that his threat would put his entire academic future and high school reputation in jeopardy. This is a perfect example of not thinking before you act. Who knew elementary school principles would prove to be so  applicable in our high school careers?

I was surprised by the amount of MHS students who reacted to this story with "wow, that kid is stupid." Usually when events like this happen the student body supports the kid behind bars and finds every possible way to blame the administration for our own problems. Maybe a metamorphosis of  public awareness will come from this, but for now, don't be stupid MHS.
Click this link to grasp the full severity go the issue- http://www.wlwt.com/news/mason-hs-student-arrested-accused-of-threatening-staff-member/31817744