CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Schools across the Coastal Bend are stepping up security in response to a 'TikTok' challenge warning of shooting and bomb threats.
The new online trend is causing nationwide investigations, and even school closures.
At the Gregory-Portland ISD they had extra school resource officers, DPS And other law-enforcement at the schools just in case.
Officers like Thomas Loughlin were here at East Cliff Elementary making sure his presence was known and he was available if any parents had questions.
“Anyone who's been on our campuses has seen additional faces including Portland, Gregory PD, as well as our local troopers, who we reached out to,” Michael Thiene, Executive Director of Safety and Student Services for the district said. “And they graciously have accepted our invitation to be visible on campus."
Thiene also explained that our local federal law-enforcement agents were contacted over the nationwide TikTok shooting and bombing challenge.
But once the threats are made, law-enforcement must take them seriously. And that means spending more money for that extra security.
“It does have a financial impact,” CCISD Police Department Chief Kirby Warnke said. “We bring people in early, we keep them late. We modify our night shifts; we reach out to local law-enforcement and they assist us. So, there is a manpower element to it.”
The Superintendent for schools in Kingsville, Dr. Cissy Reynolds-Perez, believes that the social media sites, especially TikTok, should bear some financial responsibility to schools because of these challenges and how the companies allow the threats of damage or violence to spread.
“I would welcome Tik Tok to donate money back to the schools for all the money they're losing,” Reynolds-Perez said.
The Superintendent added that these threats cause a lot of students to not show up to school. That causes the districts to lose state funding for attendance rates. Just one of the many problems social media is causing in and out of the classroom.
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