Weapons, bullying focus of SCW talk

Corrections official reminds audience of severity of laws restricting stun guns, knives and firearms on campuses

The message was clear Monday at an informational meeting at St. Clare Walker (SCW) Middle School auditorium in Locust Hill for parents and the community on bullying and gun violence — “students need to think before they speak; think before posting something to social media; take five seconds to breathe and collect your thoughts, then act not react; and do not joke about bringing a weapon or doing harm to a school;” or you may end up in Merrimac Juvenile Detention Center in Williamsburg.

Correctional officials Kate Baldacci and Yasmine Saunders with the 9th District Court Service Unit (CSU) out of Williamsburg told parents that “if children see something, say something. If someone has threatened you or someone else, and you believe it is a true imminent threat, then tell a trusted adult,” Saunders said.

Baldacci said that “laws are rules we live by, not knowing about laws is like trying to play a sport without knowing the rules.” She said parents and students need to “educate yourself” on the Code of Virginia.

There are four classes of misdemeanors and six classes of felonies. The scale ranges from a class 4 misdemeanor resulting in no jail time and a $250 fine, up to a class 4 felony which is life imprisonment and up to a $100,000 fine.

“Any person who knowingly possesses any stun weapon, knife or weapon other than a firearm, upon property of any child day center or public, private, or religious preschool, elementary, middle, or high school; any property used for school-sponsored functions or extracurricular activities or any school bus is a class 1 misdemeanor,”…