LEE COUNTY
Wednesday’s fake shooting threat was the fourth in the Southwest Florida area in the last four months and the second at South Fort Myers High School. Multiple threats across multiple schools have many parents and students fearful of simply going to school.
And those fears could be a conversation you’ll want to have with your children as they prepare for another day of school on Thursday.
Parents taking their kids out of school. CREDIT: WINK News
WINK News spoke with a licensed psychotherapist who explained there are ways your child can keep themselves safe in potentially dangerous situations.
Students, teachers, and parents were left terrified after threats of an active shooter occurred Wednesday at both North and South Fort Myers High School.
“I suddenly get a text from her saying I love you and love you too, and so please, please answer in my text wouldn’t go through to her, and she’s scared, and then her dad was calling me, and I, and she didn’t know what was going on, and she was just scared,” an anonymous speaker said.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office deemed the threats non-credible.
Parents and students leaving school. CREDIT: WINK News
But what happens when parents and children have to deal with psychological turmoil?
Vanessa Mcelreath is a psychologist who spoke with WINK News about just that.
“So if our kids are at school, and they don’t feel safe, and they feel any sort of threat, they’re not, they’re not learning anything,” Mcelreath said.
But what exactly can parents do to help their kids?
“So that might be a question like, when do you feel the most safe? When do you feel the most comfortable, relaxed, and at ease? And they, they might say, oh, well, I’m snuggled up with you in the couch watching a movie,” Mcelreath said. “And you might say, okay, great. So how can we find a way to bring that with you at school.”
And that doesn’t stop with telling children how to cope or sense danger.
Mcelreath explained that parents and children can also ask their school to help make them feel safer.
Whether that be more routine drills or more security on campus.
WINK NEWS