Some Bismarck Parents Keep Kids Home After Viral TikTok Threat

There's a viral post on the social media platform TikTok post that is threatening school shootings across the United States today, Friday, December 17th.  The post is vague and even mentions elementary schools.  The origins of this threat are unclear.

This viral TikTok post with the threat of violence in schools has caused a lot of confusion among school administrators and parents across the country.  Some schools across the country have closed for today.  None, that we are aware of in Bismarck Mandan.

I am the parent of a senior who attends Bismarck High School.  Parents of Bismarck Public Schools received this message from Dr. Jason Hornbacher Bismarck Public Schools.

According to an article on Today, law enforcement officials in several school districts have not found any credible threats to specific schools or cities.  With that being said, many schools have increased police presence across much of the nation.  The FBI even issued a statement, “The FBI takes all potential threats seriously. We regularly work with our law enforcement partners to determine the credibility of any threats."

I noticed several comments on a post on the Facebook page "Bismarck People Reporting News" concerning the TikTok post.  Several parents made comments that they decided to keep their children home today.  Other's told people to "relax" and don't live life scared.  One lady suggested metal detectors at one entrance where all kids and teachers would have to walk through a metal detector like at airports, to get in the school, with a security guard standing there, with only one entrance to the school open.  She went on to say that she would happily have my taxes go up for something like this in our school system. I think this is an idea to consider.

Let's hope this is nothing more than a false alarm.  I've had many talks with my son over the years on what to do in the event, something horrific happened at his school.  I believe he is prepared.  I would encourage all parents to do the same.