(cc'd to Foundation-l because of para 3)
School shootings are extraordinarily high profile events, nearly always
followed by investigations of warnings and foreshadowing events - where
blame is cast in a wide net on anyone who failed to notice what, in
hindsight, was a "clear sign." Often these "clear signs" are only
clear
at
all in hindsight, because as human beings we interpret what we see based
on
what we have seen in the past and few of us have encountered threats from
children that turned out to be very serious.
Wikipedia is in a unique position to suffer from the recriminations
associated with school shootings, and our role is only going to become
more
widespread and high profile as time goes on. Threats made on Wikipedia
have
the characteristics of being written, indelible, and traceable to a
specific
computer (given the right resources). Additionally, threats on Wikipedia
are
*seen* - this is key, because few threats of violence on Wikipedia get
past
recent change patrollers and watchlists of attentive editors. So, when a
school shooting threat is posting on Wikipedia it is time stamped,
indelible, traceable and seen more or less immediately.
The question, then, is what if any moral imperative does this impose on
us?
And if some of us feel compelled to report such instances to the police,
and
others do not, what if any should the extent of policy be on this issue?
Personally I can't agree to any Wikipedia policy that mandates or
punishes
behavior off-wiki. On the other hand, I do think a policy that encourages
all editors to report specific school threats to AN and (when willing and
possible) to the police is workable and a good idea. Frankly, I'm
surprised
and I'm sure many others would be as well to learn that there isn't
already
such a Wikipedia policy. At a minimum, we should have a policy of
forwarding
all such threats to the Wikimedia Foundation for "official" action if
necessary.
This issue is distinct from the issue of threats of self-harm, suicide or
harm to public figures. While vague threats to celebrities and "I'ma kill
Joe, he's a dickwad" are often reverted and ignored as simple and
unserious
vandalism, school threats have a unique nature in public sentiment and
require a unique position in policy. I'm writing this to the two lists
because its an issue that deserves a higher profile discussion than on a
proposed policy page (already nominated for deletion) with a couple
editors
who think the policy is trying to force people in calling the cops when
they
don't want to.
Nathan
These often come to oversight, so I see them and have reported a couple.
I am always aware of the absurdity of bringing the full force of the law
down on a 13 year old who is probably just fooling around. I haven't made
long distance calls if there is no email address on the school's website.
I generally make a report to the school, to its superintendent and to the
security officer. In the Los Angeles case there was no email addresses on
the website, so I didn't contact them, but there was a notice on the
administrator's noticeboard and someone did call.
I guess our policy should always be to call the school and the local
police. There is a slight possibility of a real threat not being picked
up.
Fred