New focus on how schools handle terror threats

close

Video

New focus on how schools handle terror threats

Are school districts damned if they do, damned if they don't?

DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.

NEW FOCUS ON HOW SCHOOLS ARE HANDLING TERROR THREATS IN WAKE OF RECENT SCARES

Michelle Fields:  Well I think it’s tricky.  You have to keep in mind that they had just had the San Bernardino attacks and the terrorist who committed the awful attacks in San Bernardino; they had reportedly planned to go after a school.  So we had this in mind. It was fresh on their minds about what had just happened.  I think that it’s easy to say they overreacted. If you had that all in your head, and then on top of it — It’s just better to be safe than sorry.
Jessica Tarlov:  As a native New Yorker I’m going to go with the home team here.  There were certain indications in the letter that this could’ve been a hoax.  That they didn’t capitalize the “a” in Allah, which they say, was a dead giveaway that this wasn’t to be taken seriously. No, I don’t want to throw L.A. under the bus about it.  I understand about being cautious. We’re in incredibly difficult times and these decisions are going to have to be made more and more. But I think what we really should be talking about is sharing more information between police departments and intelligence offices.  
Jonathan Hoenig:  Of course these schools had to suspend classes.  I mean their job is to keep kids safe.  And you know what? The school board can’t defeat ISIS; the PTA can’t take on and destroy the Islamic State. That’s the government’s job.

VIDEO SHOWING YALE STUDENTS SIGNING AWAY THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT FUELS DEBATE

Jonathan Hoenig: One in three college kids don’t even know what the First Amendment is, and the majority want codes against offensive speech.  But you know what? It’s like they’re perfect little college students, because these are the ideas that have perpetrated America’s most elite universities for decades.
Jessica Tarlov: This is ridiculous.  We also know they’re edited, we know the average student is not going to say that. But I think to Jonathans point, we need to be educating people more about the Constitution, what it says and also have a discussion about what hate speech really is.
Michelle Fields:  I don’t think this is an isolated incident.  I mean if you look at what happened, at a lot of these college campuses trying to silence free speech, create these safe spaces where other opinions aren’t allowed in. This is what college kids are like today.  They’re these delicate little flowers who don’t want anyone to hurt their feelings or offend them and they believe that the Constitution gives them the right to not be offended.  That is what they think these days. It’s crazy.
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: TRUMP IS "ABSOLUTE LEADER" IN RACE FOR WHITE HOUSE

Michelle Fields:  I’m not a fan of Putin. I don’t think this is great.  Honestly I think he’s just trolling President Obama.  I don’t really think he means it. He just wants to make him angry.
Jessica Tarlov:  Anything that’s bad for Donald Trump actually ends up being good for him somehow.  I’ve never seen someone who’s like such Teflon to bad news. Like, “ban Muslims,” up in the polls.  So I’m sure that his base will think that this is somehow an indication that we’re going to go in a period of amazing American-Russian relations.
Jonathan Hoenig:  They have got a lot in common.  I mean both Putin and Trump have banned press from covering their events.  What frightens me is that I think they both share not patriotism, but real nationalism.  For Trump, it’s great America. For Putin, it’s mother Russia.  That’s a form of collectivism. So note, Putin is not an endorsement I think an American presidential nominee should want or favor.