Concerned about note my 6yo wrote

[cdwillis24]

My 6 year old son is in Kindergarten.  Yesterday I found a piece of paper in his backpack which said:  
Plans
Kick the water fountain
Rip the school
Kill the security guard
Bring a knife to school
Bring a gun to school.
I asked him if he had written this and he first tried to say that he had heard a 3rd grader say it.  Then he said that that didn't really happen that he just made it up and wrote this down at his after school daycare. He said that he did talk about it with his friend Braeden, but that he was saying it and his friend was just saying "yeah".  I asked him if he was upset about something at school and tried to ask questions to find out how those words would even get in his head.  He said he just wanted to go to the school at night to play.  He does not have problems getting along with the other kids at school, his conduct grade is always an A.  In fact, his teacher had just made a note on his report card stating how well he was doing and that he always tries to do the right thing.  We explained to him the seriousness of what he wrote, but he wasn't very responsive when we would ask him where he would have heard something like that.  I asked if he had heard any stories about kids bringing guns to school and he said no.  He insists he didn't hear it anywhere, that he just made it up.  I don't understand how a 6 year old could come up with this.  Should we be concerned?   Should we take further action as far as possibly having him talk to a counselor or just wait and see if he exhibits any further behavior such as this?  

[Kalio1]

I raised 3 boys and I agree this should be addressed with a professional even if just to ease your mind. But I would look at the whole kid and not just this incident. How is he doing otherwise? Maybe he and his friend were playing some type of game. I am wondering how much exposure he has to media? Video games? Does he have a big brother? Reason I ask is that some of these games have this type of outrageous  fantasy crime type actions in them and violence is reduced to a "game" even some kiddie shows have some criminal themes. I remember when my older boys loved a game I didn't allow, Street Fighter and how that game, even just viewed when they could sneak it somewhere else would show up in their behavior. Not to the extent where they made a list of this sort, but things they would say "Im going to kill you! Im going to shoot you with my AK47! And other things that about made me faint. In the end I was able to figure out they had gotten these phrases from this stupid, violent yet extremely popular video game. He is around other kids so you never know what kind of stuff they might pick up. I would at least discuss it with a professional, but I wouldn't freak out unless there were other behaviors and issues that are present and not this one thing.

These violent video games are a sort of modern day Clue "in the parlor with the rope" on one level but on another level it can be a dangerous influence on some kids I think.

Im not trying to minimize the issue at all but just thought I'd add another possible influencing factor. There have been studies showing how very young children can be influenced by this stuff. It is not uncommon to have crime "check lists" of that sort in these games. Many of them the goal is to kill off people in your effort to "move up" a level and you select weapons and make plans in your efforts to arrive at the higher levels.

I know the list he made frightened you, but really for a 6 year old to articulate that well and be able to make a list at all shows how very intelligent he is I think.

[ahs]

i would be worried about this too

[cdwillis24]

Thanks for your help Dr Kennedy & for the positive comments from other parents.   I did talk to my son more and pinpoint why he wrote the note. It was a long process, but what he said was he was not even at his school when he wrote it and says that he was not upset with anyone and that nothing had happened that day.  He said that all he wanted to do was play in the school at night (which he had vaguely mentioned when we first found the note), and be able to do whatever he wanted at school.  To run around in the halls if he wanted & to eat what he wanted from the cafeteria, to make messes, etc. (basically not have the rules to follow).  I asked him why he wrote that about the security guard and he said that if there was a security guard there at night he might not let him in, but that he wouldn't really do that.  He said he needed the knife or gun in case there were scary people trying to get him at night.  The only thing we could attribute this to was the fact that he has recently watched Home Alone (which we will not let him watch again for a long while) and that in that movie the boy was alone at home & the two guys were after him and he had to set traps and mess up the house.  Although, I do feel a little better in that he didn't seem to be harboring any ill feelings towards anyone, we will still take him to see a counselor as you suggested, just to be sure.  Thanks again!

[850PWFD]

I doubt the sincerity of this posting. Hey who ever started this post: see what I CARE if you're upset

[drewk]

This must be very stressful and I hope you and your family are able to work through it successfully.  You are definitely absolutely right to take it very seriously and we are rooting for you.

I am espeicially sorry that it was made worse by having your sincerity questioned.  That is inappropriate.  Generally the community at this site is very supportive and positive and I hope you will not let one individual taint your experience.  

[ctsmom]

this is a very tough situation, but I would look into this further, I would suggest a counselling

[cdwillis24]

He did not spell it like that.. He spelled all of the words the way they sounded...such as kil the scurdee gard, breeng a nif to scool.  I spelled it correctly so that it would be easier to read.  The fact that you would doubt the sincerity of my posting is really upsetting to me...Who would make that up?  I posted here because I am not sure what to do and thought that I would get solid advice.  I guess that was a mistake.

[jdtm]

Plans
Kick the water fountain
Rip the school
Kill the security guard
Bring a knife to school
Bring a gun to school

I do not know of any 6-year old Grade 1 students who are capable of spelling these words.  I doubt the sincerity of this posting.

[jdtm]

Plans
Kick the water fountain
Rip the school
Kill the security guard
Bring a knife to school
Bring a gun to school.


Most 6-year old children in grade 1 are unable to spell the majority of these words let alone compose a list.  I doubt the sincerity of this posting.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Yes, you should definitely follow up on this and not wait for any further developments. You are right in trying to understand what might have contributed to such aggressive ideation on his part. There are certainly children who appear very calm and contained and who yet harbor some pretty angry feelings and aggressive thoughts. Usually such things are in response to (a) some event that has just occurred, (b) having been contaged by a peer or (c) the cumulative result of insidious developments (e.g., teasing, taunting) over time. Whatever, the case, it would be prudent to follow up with a counselor and to check with the school about the possibility of something that might have occurred to generate such writing. Can you tell when the comments were written? Knowing that piece of information might help to narrow the focus.