‘We cannot arrest our way out’: Juvenile Court administrator discusses school threats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee has seen a surge in school threats, most of which have proven to be hoaxes and have come from students themselves.

On Tuesday and Wednesday , students allegedly threatened multiple Nashville-area schools. Since August 1, over 325 school threats have been investigated by Tennessee Homeland Security.

“We cannot arrest our way out of this kind of a problem,” Davidson County & Metropolitan Nashville Juvenile Court administrator, Jennifer Wade, said.

With these false threats, teachers lose valuable instructional hours while law enforcement resources get exhausted investigating false claims. Tuesday’s incident involved an 11th grader at Whites Creek High School who reportedly said he would “blow the school up.” That student was later arrested.

“We all, I think, sometimes take for granted the weight of this issue and that we are putting it on the backs of children,” Wade added.

Wade is not sold on a state law that changed threats of school violence from a misdemeanor to a felony . She added that the change has possibly complicated matters.

“I hope this does not bog down our legal and judicial system for these things that, I believe, we typically find that children do not have the means to carry out,” Wade said.

Wade applauded the efforts of the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and Metro Nashville Public Schools in dealing with school threats. She said they are, and have been, approaching each case holistically.

The key, Wade believes, is remaining empathetic to young people and their problems, while giving them the support they need.

“As adults, we have to figure out how to make our communities safer, and that does mean educating our children and empowering our children,” Wade said. “But it also means not laying the problems of the world at their feet.”

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