Is it fair to preemptively assess threats due to student expression?

In recent times attacks on schools or other vulnerable public venues may or may not be more prevalent, but they are certainly attracting a greater share of the public sphere of awareness.

Even as this assignment was promoted, a deadly mass shooting attack occurred in Parkland Florida. The specific motivations for each attack are varied and disperse, but nearly all share one common attribute: The perpetrator is responding to a perceived position of powerlessness.

Sadly, another shared trait is in almost every case, a series of warning signs were ignored or overlooked. As investigations continue, observers are left asking why. Why did authorities ignore a threat. Why did school administrators step in. Why did piers refuse to intervene? The answer in totality may be too complex to distill to one statement, but in the  most base terms – because we ostensibly live in a society of innocent until proven guilty.

For purposes of the question, let’s leave adults alone. Now just imagine if we were to investigate every writing, every threat, every bit of drama or social awkwardness from every teen. Leaving out the logistical impossibility, the result could potentially breed even more attacks be removing one of the last reaming bits of power left to a potential attacker: That of self-expression.

These forms of expression are not always pretty, popular, or even moral. But without t hem we begin to ebb away at the principles our current society relies upon. As an example, let’s examine an inflammatory student comment made at an undisclosed northwestern university. According to Freedom of speech vs. student safety: A case study on teaching communication in the post-Virginia-Tech-World a student made the following comment during closing of class:

Kane, P. E. (1986). The New World Information Order And Freedom Of Communication: The Communication Case For The New World Information Order. Free Speech Yearbook, 25(1), 69-69. doi:10.1080/08997225.1986.10556064:

“I think that the homeless be shot and ground up for dog food because, after all, they are useless anyway.”

“What do I do?” the adjunct asked the course director. The class

was genuinely concerned and some were afraid. On one hand, ignoring the

offending student was not an option because the classmate was planning to

inform the authorities anyway. On the other hand, an exaggerated response

by the instructor or the campus police could be traumatic both class and to the

student who made the comment.