Three first graders from the Winterberry Charter School in Anchorage, Alaska were punished by the school administration after suspicion of hatching a plot to kill one of their classmates. The three girls, whose identities have not been released by the school, were caught after two students reported the plot to school authorities on March 22.
The three students who hatched the plot were allegedly planning to use silica gel packets in an attempt to poison a classmate. Though silica gel is a non-toxic material that is commonly used in food packets to prevent moisture, the three young plotters were nonetheless brought before school authorities and given ample punishment.
Anchorage School District official Heidi Embley stated that the first-graders' young age prevented them from plotting a real fatal incident, and that officials still remain unsure if the threat was serious.
"Given such a young age, it's not clear if they knew what they were doing, if it was just a threat or something more serious," she said.
ASD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro also spoke of the incident, further elaborating on the three first-graders' plot. "The students had taken some plastic packets that are inside of a sealed food bag, meant for preservation of the food and say "do not consume" on the packaging, and brought them to school with the intent of putting them in another student's lunch. The students had thought the packets contained poison. The plot was not actually carried out," Castro said.
After the plot was reported to a teacher, the local police became involved. The three students who attempted to poison their classmate were then spoken to and given sanctions, among them suspension.
Parents were also alerted of the incident when the school administration sent notices during the day it was reported. Though the incident is very disturbing and, given the right substance, someone could have been hurt, Castro stated that the ASD is still thankful that the incident did not escalate.
"It is important for parents to talk with their children about speaking up when they learn of something that could potentially harm others. We are thankful for the student that said something to a trusted authority when they learned of the potentially harmful situation to another student," she said.
The ASD also announced that the three plotters would return to the school after the duration of their suspensions.