WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video associated with this article is from a previous story.
Some Triad parents kept their kids out of the classroom Friday as districts monitored online activity due to a social media challenge encouraging violence at schools.
Warnings about threats at schools across the nation circulated on Tik Tok.
"This just seems to be snowballing," Sarah Green said.
Green is one of many parents frustrated by unsubstantiated warnings of school violence being shared on social media.
"I think the reality is, these threats would be less serious and less horrifying for our communities if we didn't live in fear the kids were going to bring guns to school," Green said.
Her sons are Winston-Salem/Forsyth County middle schoolers who saw the trend going around. They aren't the only ones.
"I had a couple of friends who saw things posted that they were reported to the police, and the police traced that back to Texas. It's not local," Green said.
School districts assured parents no credible threats came to our region.
Social media expert Kristen Daukas said that doesn't make it any less stressful for parents.
"Do I send my kid to school, do the kids not go to school? Do you tell them to go anyhow? It's a hot mess," Daukas said.
Tyler Beyea is one parent who chose to pull her child from school because of the social media threat.
"I felt much better, I had him in my arms hugging me," Beyea said.
It's been a difficult year for her family. They lost her daughter unexpectedly from an allergy. Now she admits she is even more cautious about her son's safety.
"I had a media coordinator take my call from a crying mother and calm me down enough to feel like it was OK to pull my child out," Beyea said.
These are unconfirmed threats creating panic and stress.
Unfortunately, Daukas said these types of threats will likely continue.
"These kids are getting devices younger and younger and they just don't have the emotional maturity to be able to handle the stuff that comes with it," Daukas said.
She said many kids are seeking attention by making threats, which is why banning certain sites won't solve the problem.
"It's not the medium, it's the message," Daukas said. "Whether it's TikTok, Snapchat, or Instagram, it will just move to the next platform. We've got to figure out a way to reel the whole thing in."
Daukas said it's important to monitor your child's devices and make sure they feel comfortable coming to you with concerns.