A 14-year-old Laurel Highlands High School freshman is suspended until Monday after he approached a counselor and said he was thinking of brining a gun to school after being bullied.
KDKA Radio's Marty Griffin talked to Larry and John from the boy's house in Uniontown and says the student has "some emotional issues, some depression issues, some anxiety issues and he goes to a special counseling service and he also has a counselor and access to a therapist in the school."
Griffin says after the counselor spoke with the child, state police were called and an attempt is being made to file terrorist threats against the student.
"The message they send is, 'hey, if you got a problem, we're not going to help you with a problem. If you got a problem we're going to resolve it by calling the police, trying to file charges of terroristic threats against you and dig a digger hole for you even though you're already having issues'", said Griffin.
Griffin says they have reached out to the school district but have no heard anything yet, "probably because of privacy issues."
The family now has attorneys involved to try and find some more answers.
Griffin asks the question "If there's a threat and you make that suggestion . . . in front of a therapist in an effort to get help, should you be kicked out of school and should they refer it to the state police for charges?"
Griffin says he understand that there could be a legal obligation to contact authorities but he is concerned about the message this could sent to other teenagers who could be feeling the same way.
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