What should schools do when a second-grader makes a threat?

Child mental health experts say that adults should investigate and consider the life circumstances of youth who make threats. Often, children who make threats do so out of anger or frustration that may have been caused by other factors in their life, such as troubles at home or in their communities, said Mark Reinecke, child and adolescent psychologist and clinical director of the Child Mind Institute. Threats can be a youth’s attempt to control what’s happening around them, Reinecke said.