A Liberty Middle School (LMS) student has been suspended after posting a picture on social media of Dr. Pepper cans arranged to form the shape of a rifle over the weekend.
Officials with LMS in Mountain View, Missouri took this post as a threat, but the boy’s mother, Riley Grunden, doesn’t agree saying, “Dr. Pepper cans… This is a threat?”
Grunden argues that her 13-year-old son was being creative when he began stacking Dr. Pepper cans end-to-end to resemble the shape of an AK-47, but on Tuesday school officials told her that her son needed to turn himself in to the district’s central office over the image.
“When I went to the central office, I was there to defend my son because I feel like he did nothing wrong,” Grunden said.
School officials disagreed with Grunden, giving her son a three-day suspension and searching him before he could enter the premises.
“I feel like he did nothing wrong,” Grunden said. “There’s staff who post pictures of real firearms when they go hunting or with their children – even posting pictures of children with real firearms. If that is not a threat, how is Dr. Pepper cans that cannot do anything a threat?”
In a statement regarding the incident, Superintendent Lanna Tharp said, “We have enough information to believe the video had caused fear to at least one student, and understandably so.”
“We want to inform you that we have become aware of a rumor circulating on social media regarding a potential threat. Following a thorough investigation we have found no credible evidence of any danger. Some social media posts can cause stress on our students, families, and staff. Social media can also disrupt the learning environment,” the statement noted, urging parents to underline the gravity of the incident to their children.
“We ask that you talk to your child about the seriousness of making a threat or posting anything of a threatening nature (images of weapons, violent song lyrics, violent videos, etc). Please help us emphasize to all students that making a threat against a public school or any student, has serious legal and disciplinary consequences. Posts of this nature are not funny or entertaining and will not be considered a joke or form of entertainment. Even posts that are made outside of school time, impacting the education of our students or causing fear to our students, will be investigated.”
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