Rochester Student Receives Death Threats for Doing the Right Thing
Over a week ago, two 13-year-old boys were arrested for bringing a loaded revolver to school in Rochester. The gun was never taken out or used to threaten anyone, according to authorities. The students responsible were both charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon. They were alerted to the presence of the firearm in the building by another female student who reported it, but she has since become the target of harassment and death threats around the school.
The student who filed the report has not returned to school since, but other students have sent her death threats saying they are going to jump her and even kill her upon her return to school. Her father told News 8 in Rochester:
I hate seeing her being out of school or her getting threats. It could have been a whole different situation where people got shot up and then you would have wished you said something.
Her father makes a good point that, had she not said something and these boys decided to use the firearm on another student or students, you can't go back in time and change the fact that you decided not to speak up. But with this happening, it creates a lose-lose situation. One where you say nothing and something bad potentially happens, forcing you to live with that guilt, or you do the right thing and say something, and you get harassed, and your life is threatened.
There have also been questions as to how this student's anonymity was not kept after making the report, and that there needs to be a place where students can report such things anonymously without fear of others finding out.