Attention-Seeking Teens Threatening Violence at School

Multiple attention-seeking teens (who ironically will go unnamed on the news as they are minors) have taken to social media over the last couple weeks, threatening violence at their schools.

Threatening violence at school

While the world is still reeling from the deadly shooting at a high school in Florida, a handful of teens in Utah have chosen to make jokes, gain attention from peers, or make classmates fearful by threatening violence at their own schools throughout the Beehive State. Although none of the threats have been determined to be real, teens that voice, text, post or snap messages threatening violence at school can face criminal charges. The penalties for threatening violence at school can vary depending on the specifics of the threat.

Threat of violence

If a teen makes a threat to another person or group, they could be charged with making a threat of violence. Utah Code 76-5-107 explains that if a teen makes a threat of violence “with intent to place a person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, substantial bodily injury, or death” or is “accompanied by a show of immediate force or violence”, they could face a class B misdemeanor. Teens should know that they don’t have to plainly make a threat; even implying that there is a threat of violence to another is a crime.

Threat of terrorism

If a teen makes a threat of violence and their actions “cause an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies to take action due to the person’s conduct posing a serious and substantial risk to the general public “, they may also face a class B misdemeanor according to Utah Code 76-5-107.3 which deals with terrorist threats. If the teen’s threats involve a real or hoax weapon of mass destruction such as a bomb or “any item or instrumentality that is designed or intended to cause widespread death or serious bodily injury to multiple victims” as detailed in section 76-10-401, their charges could be increased to a second degree felony.

Be known for good

At an age where teens are trying to make their mark on the world and be remembered as an individual, they should also be warned that threatening violence at school is not a healthy way to obtain the limelight. Long after the dust settles on their threat, they may still have blemishes on their juvenile or adult criminal record that can trouble them long after high school is over.