Social media threats, rumors of violence and circulating messages of concern among children and adults led to a heightened sense of fear and anxiety on the Peninsula last week, causing some parents to keep their kids home from school and the Newport News and Hampton divisions to postpone a Thursday night football game.
Hampton schools saw a significant increase in student absences; officials said 900 more students across the division were absent Thursday than Wednesday. Hampton was one of several districts across the country that had schools on a "hit list" that circulated Wednesday on TikTok.
"While we can't attribute all of these absences to the social media hoax, we acknowledge that it likely played a role in many of them," division spokeswoman Kellie Goral said in an email.
On Facebook parent groups and online neighborhood forums, parents shared fears and plans to keep their children home a day or two. Some wondered -- as often happens after school-related violence -- whether to switch to homeschooling.
In Newport News, parents reported getting a message from the Warwick High School principal Friday telling them the administration was "notified of some threatening comments and chatter posted on social media referencing several NNPS schools." The message stated the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services said similar posts were circulating in other parts of the state and nationwide.
The social media frenzy came on the heels of the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Menchville student in Newport News while he was waiting at a school bus stop early Tuesday. It also closely follows school shootings in Maryland and Georgia the previous week.
Ashley Dale, whose children were home sick for a part of the week but were cleared to return on Friday, said she didn't feel safe sending them back after receiving a message from Hampton schools about the threats.
"I don't want them there," Dale said. "It's scary for me. They're safer here."
Dale said this isn't the first time she's been concerned about how safe her kids are at school. Last year, she kept her oldest daughter, Madison Peach, then a freshman at Bethel High School, home for several days after a student attacked another with a boxcutter. A few years prior, when a couple of her children were in elementary school, their school called to say that a bullet had been found on the bus they were riding.
"So I said, 'No more bus.' "
But Dale feels stuck. She knows she can't keep her children home indefinitely and is unable to homeschool. She wishes there were more virtual choices.
"Really, there are no options."
Madison, 15, said the violence and the messages she's seen circulating made her worry. Though she usually doesn't attend football games, her friends at Bethel who do were relieved when the school's game against Menchville was postponed.
She said the shootings at the schools in Georgia and Maryland have particularly rattled her.
"It's scary because you don't know what school is next or who is planning on bringing a gun."
Though Bethel has a weapons detection system like other Hampton and Newport News schools, Madison said searches are not always conducted when someone sets them off. She worries something could slip in.
A Hampton official said division officials will investigate the complaint and address the issue if necessary.
Despite her anxiety, Madison does not want to learn remotely. She's able to focus better while at school.
"I think I would do it if it got to a certain point," she said.
Anxiety after a school or school-connected shooting is not uncommon.
"That's completely understandable," said Rachel Stewart, a licensed professional counselor with Thriveworks in Virginia Beach.
Stewart, who works with children, teens and adults, said the Newport News shooting already has come up in some of her client sessions. She said social media is also exacerbating a situation where people's anxiety feeds off each other.
"When a kid sees their parents being scared or concerned, they're going to feel the same way, right? When they see other kids being scared or concerned, they're going to feel the same way," she said.
This can keep children and teens in a state of anxiety for a longer time, she said.
Even before the most recent violence, Stewart said the fear of a school shooting has been one of the biggest issues for children she works with who are experiencing school-related anxiety.
Data from 2018 Pew Research Center surveys showed that a majority of teenagers -- 57% -- were worried about a shooting at their school. More than 60% of parents of teenagers surveyed were at least somewhat worried about the possibility.
Mental health professionals have been sounding the alarm about the deterioration of youth mental health for years. Many say the issue was further exacerbated by the pandemic. Schools are seeing record absences, many of them fueled by anxiety and other mental health challenges.
A 2022 policy brief published in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research cites numerous studies that have found that students exposed to school shootings experience negative impacts on their mental health, as well as their educational and economic trajectories. This includes a higher rate of antidepressant use, lower test scores, increased absenteeism and a higher likelihood of dropping out.
Though the Newport News shooting on Tuesday did not happen at a school, it meets the definition of a "school-associated violent death," as defined by the School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System, which includes homicides where the victim was on the way to or from school.
According to the policy brief, school shootings can impact students more directly than other gun violence because of students' connections to the victims as well as "the loss of trust in their schools' ability to keep them safe."
The brief also notes that intensive media coverage of school shootings also likely puts many American students on edge.
Social media hoaxes also cause significant disruptions. A series of bomb threats disrupted schools in numerous Hampton Roads divisions two years ago, in some cases causing students to be sent home early.
"These incidents can cause unnecessary fear and anxiety among students, staff and families," Goral said. She added that the hoaxes also strain school and police resources, as they ramp up security, investigate threats and deploy counselors and social workers to support students.
A spokesman for the state Department of Education said on Friday that officials are working with school divisions to explore possible resolutions for threats made over social media. Many of these threats may not be originating from within the state, or even the country, he said.