The safety of our children is priority No. 1

To report or not to report? That is the question.

Too many times over the past few years we've been forced to make the decision on whether or not to report on bomb threats or other types of "scares" at our area schools.

If we report on the incident are we giving someone their "15 minutes of fame?" Will there be copycats? If we don't report on it will parents be upset they weren't informed about a serious issue at the place their children spend a majority of their day?

So far we've made the decision to report on the incidents.

The bottom line is the safety of our children, and parents want -- and have the right -- to know what's happening at our schools. They also have the right to know what the leaders of our schools are doing in cases of emergencies.

Linton-Stockton and Bloomfield schools have been forced to deal with these issues more than other area schools. L-S Superintendent Nick Karazsia and Bloomfield Superintendent Dan Sichting have been upfront when speaking with the newspaper about each incident.

Sichting received a call about a student who pulled a gun on another student at a party in Bloomfield last Saturday night. Though it happened off school property, police felt it was important to warn Sichting about potential problems on Monday.

Sichting made the decision to inform teachers, students, and parents with a school-wide telephone call Sunday night. He also called me at home to let me know about the incident, and requested something be put on our website.

The newspaper learned about a bomb threat at Linton-Stockton on Monday, and Karazsia was more than cooperative with the newspaper when asked to explain what happened.

We found out about the bomb threat via Facebook, and Sichting brought up social networks when speaking with reporter Sabrina Westfall on Monday afternoon.

Sichting said about the decision to inform parents Sunday night and have the school in lockdown mode Monday: "We were not sure how big of an issue there was out there, how many parents knew about it and how much had been said on social networking sites."

Linton-Stockton was in lockdown mode all day Monday and Tuesday, and part of Wednesday.

"You have to error on the side of caution, that's why we locked down," Karazsia said. "Deep down in the back of your mind you say it's probably not anything and we're safe. But you don't know.

"It does take a burden off when the experts say there's no bomb."

The newspaper will continue to inform parents about what's happening at our schools. Will there come a time when bomb threats and other scares are ignored because we feel students are doing it just for attention and other students are never in danger?

That's a good question.