Warren County High School principal Tony Cassel blames social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and texting for the student body paranoia following a fight, and another near-altercation, at WCHS on Wednesday.
According to Cassel, there was a fight in the morning and a near fight in the afternoon. The four students involved, two per incident, were dealt with appropriately, he said.
Despite rumors to the contrary, no knives or guns were confiscated from the four individuals taking part in those incidents. Principal Cassel did say one student, who was not involved in either altercation, asked the principal to hold a pocket knife he had forgotten was in his pocket when he entered school. Cassel said he still has that knife in his possession.
“The social media exploded. The story got blown out of proportion. Kids tried to turn it into a racial incident, but it wasn’t,” said Cassel.
Cassel compared the hype to the game people play where one person whispers a story to someone. The story then gets told over and over until it’s much different from the original version.
Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale was out of town attending a meeting when the incidents took place, but said, “It was reported to me there was a fight. All safety procedures were put in place. Everything was taken care of.”
Principal Cassel made sure additional school resource officers and sheriff’s deputies were brought in before the start of school Thursday. The additional officers were very visible, both inside and outside the high school.
The rumor mill did result in a higher-than-normal absentee rate Thursday. According to Jeffrey Martin, director of attendance for Warren County Schools, 372 students were absent from WCHS. He said normal absentees are around 135.
Cassel said, “It was an unfortunate incident but we took what happened seriously.”
He relayed precautions to his staff before classes began Thursday. He also asked all staff to be attentive to everything going on around them.