Nationwide TikTok threat troubles parents and school districts in Spokane

An anonymous threat on TikTok has put school districts in Spokane and across the country on high alert.

The threat, also reported as the “December Challenge,” claims that multiple school shootings will take place on Friday.

Some districts say they have been flooded with questions about the rumors of violence on social media and responded in letters to parents and public statements in the days leading up to Friday.

According to national law enforcement agencies, the threat is not credible. However, districts across the country and Spokane County urge parents to be vigilant.

“The Spokane public schools will be more present in our district out of caution,” a spokesman told The Spokesman Review Thursday afternoon.

In the West Valley School District, Superintendent Kyle Rydell said the district’s resource officer “has been in close contact with her team and the situation is still being monitored.”

Emails were sent to Spokane Public School staff early Thursday afternoon and families at 4 p.m.

The message stressed that the threat “did not come from our school district. We have heard reports from many other counties across the state that the same post is circulating in their schools.

“Although we do not consider the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously,” the statement said. “We will continue to work diligently to ensure the safety of our learning community.”

The embassy continued to emphasize the importance of avoiding online submissions related to threats to school safety.

“Even if they don’t pose a credible threat, they can create a lot of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff,” the message concluded. “We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activities and to talk to them about the right behavior on the Internet.”

Identical messages were sent from several other local counties.

Some school districts say they are planning to increase police presence on many campuses.

“While we expect nothing in our schools or our district, we would be remiss if we weren’t particularly vigilant about security in our schools tomorrow because of this TikTok challenge,” said Magda Parvey, principal of Andover Public Schools in Massachusetts, she wrote in a letter to parents.

TikTok posted a statement on Twitter on Thursday saying it will work with law enforcement agencies.

“We deal with threat rumors with the utmost seriousness. For this reason, we are working with law enforcement to investigate warnings of possible violence in schools, although we have found no evidence that such threats originated from or spread through TikTok, ”the statement said.