District administrators, law enforcement reap SUSO benefits to investigate online threat

Monday through Friday, Wildcats attend school and repeat the same, recurring schedule. That sort of redundancy and routine can bring with it a false sense of security. However, the never-ending cycle of fraudulent security threats hit West once again, reminding everyone of the need for vigilance and rapid response. On September 20, a circulating social media post began floating around the student body, triggering anxiety and a drastic drop in attendance. An unidentified person reposted a screenshot of a Texas shooting threat with the caption, “West, get ready on Wednesday.” Wisconsin high schools sharing the name ‘West’ were all notified of the possible crisis immediately.

‘Speak Up Speak Out,’ more commonly referred to as SUSO, allows students to report incidents on matters similar to this one. Students and staff alike are given extensive training on how to use the program in the event that a reportable incident occurs, the most recent of which occurred in homeroom during the first full week of school. Assistant Principal Aaron Herm appreciates the many benefits of SUSO, especially given the context of the post from September 20.

“It allows you to remain anonymous, and you’re guaranteed a response 24/7,” he said. “Users also know they’re going to get through to us. If you send an email, I may or may not check my email. But if you use SUSO, you're going to get a live person that will get a hold of us and contact the police if they need to.”

This system was prevalent and heavily used following the incident on September 20, with numerous students reporting it through SUSO. As more and more students and parents were posting alerts to spread the information, administration was faced with a sea of messages from the students.

“We were so proud of everybody who reported it; my phone has never blown up as much as that night,” Herm said. “We were chatting with each other and working with our central office to develop a communication plan because, obviously, as these tips came in, we wanted to be able to communicate that we were aware of this and what we knew so far.”

But the panic still wasn’t curbed, as a large chunk of the student body didn’t show up to school the next day. While there were various reasons for staying at home, the main was to remain safe in case the threat was indeed true.

Senior Cody Ulrich chose to stay home that day and has a specific point of view altered by previous occurrences at the school.

“Nowadays, with the state of the country, I didn’t want to take the risk of it being genuine. Especially considering I’m still not over the incident from my freshman year,” he said.

This is referring to the evacuation that happened on December 3, 2019. Following a student physical threat, students evacuated and sought refuge in Tipler Middle School. The result stayed in the minds of many students who witnessed the event as physical injury was suffered by the officer at the time, Officer Mike Wissink. 

Junior Gabby Heling has also been molded by this experience as a student at Tipler when this happened.

“I felt immediate dread based on all the previous incidents,” she said. “I went to Tipler when the December 3rd incident occurred, so I know what happens when there is a shooting. It’s a scary thing to think about, so when I see those things I get really upset.”

The Oshkosh community has been directly affected by these acts; thus, when these false claims are continuously made, they personally affect students emotionally and reignite past trauma.The majority of the current staff and seniors were present for December 3rd, causing some shared concerns regarding possible security issues.

“Unfortunately, there is always going to be that fear,” Herm said. “That's just something that exists now and it's just so unfortunate that it's so easy to spread.”

With the irrevocable presence of the internet, people are constantly swarmed with troubling concerns and topics - often regarding their own safety and protection. This causes students to feel overwhelmed with the flood of matters that should be discussed and handled. There’s a wide range of things that can be reported on SUSO, leaving many students questioning what it should and shouldn’t be used for.

“I feel like people use it but only for more serious threats,” Heling said.

The question, however, arises on what is considered a serious threat. This is especially true with empty threads made only for notoriety. This is becoming a growing concern, especially from teenagers who think it’s okay to make false claims regarding school safety.

“I believe it's for attention based on what we have seen on social media. It's like they want their ‘five seconds of fame’, and it just gets everyone involved,” Heling said.

Because of the option for SUSO, administrators were promptly notified of the post, allowing them to discuss with Officer Heather Brickham and share with the students that they were handling the situation. The workers for SUSO helped wrap up the situation by continuing contact with administrators throughout the entire process, until it was contained.

“SUSO people are so great,” Herm said. “They followed up with us the next day and provided additional information for us as admin to help deal with situations like that.”

A priority while dealing with these sorts of circumstances is ensuring everyone feels protected and that their concerns are valid and being heard. Herm puts safety before anything else, while noting that everyone at West, both students and staff, are experiencing the same amount of stress.

“Hopefully, people take comfort in the fact that we take all threats very seriously,” he said. “We involve the police, and we're in the building too. Everybody has a stake in this; we want everybody to be safe.”

by Makenna Freund and Addi Isely

Published October 3, 2022

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue 1