Buffalo student expelled over MySpace threat
Wilson student expelled over threat:
A student from Wilson High School in Buffalo, New York, has been expelled for threatening to burn down his principal’s house on his MySpace.
The 16-year-old junior was suspended and then kicked out for the rest of the year after the threat was brought to the attention of school administrators, according to students, parents and school officials familiar with the case.
Wilson school administrators won’t comment on the threat, but the incident is common knowledge at the school. It illustrates the ease with which MySpace and other Web sites can be misused.
Shortly after the student was expelled, someone set up a fake MySpace page using the name and photo of Daniel Johnson, the high school principal, and crude comments about his personal habits.
The student who made the threat was using MySpace and visiting someone else’s page when he left the threat as a public comment, Wilson students said in interviews.
The Buffalo News is not identifying the teen because he does not face criminal charges. A parent or teacher learned of the arson threat a few weeks ago and contacted the high school, students and parents said.
Friends say they don’t know why the student wrote what he did, although several said the student recently had gotten in trouble with the principal. But they said they believe the threat was intended as a joke and they don’t take it seriously.
Another MySpace profile, under the name “On Behalf of Wilson Central School,” still uses the same photo of Johnson framed by the words “Big Brother is Watching You.”
These are the latest in a series of incidents directed at Johnson.
His home and property were the target of vandalism twice in the past three years, most recently two years ago.
I don’t have any doubt that it was meant as a joke or just idle talk however in the post-Columbine world these “jokes” aren’t funny anymore.
Tags: Buffalo, new-york, threat, Wilson-High-SchoolRelated Stories
POSTED IN: School
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