Police, educators respond to Hinsdale South scare with advice for parents
The case of a Hinsdale South student who authorities say had an arsenal of weapons in his Darien bedroom once again raises questions for parents of teenagers: How much privacy is appropriate, and what's the best way for parents to set effective boundaries?
Most teens aren't going to have guns, ammunition and IEDs in their rooms, but some are hiding something, be it drugs, inappropriate pictures or bad report cards.
At a Wednesday detention hearing for the 16-year-old who authorities say threatened the school and fellow students, prosecutors said police found a flare gun in the boy's room that had been converted to a working gun, as well as a shotgun, a sawed-off rifle, more than 150 rounds of ammunition, knives, ski masks and brass knuckles.
His bedroom also contained Nazi posters and flags, a World War II German soldier's uniform, a Soviet flag and paper targets.
In addition, the DuPage County bomb squad was called to collect an incendiary device in the boy's closet that contained black powder, razor blades and ball bearings.
"Obviously you heard all of those different things that were taken out of the house as evidence," Darien Police Chief Greg Thomas said. "So you know full well it wasn't one minor item hidden between the mattress and bed frame. This is something obviously more intense than that. So I agree. How do you not know?"
Thomas says that's a question parents of all teens must ask themselves.
"Do you automatically go there and assume the worst of your child or grandchild? Or do you just blindly trust them to figure the world out on their own? I think a lot of parents need to find where that median is," he said.
Several school districts surveyed this week said they don't have programs in which they talk to parents about setting and maintaining privacy boundaries with their teens.
But Hinsdale High School District 86 Assistant Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said she thinks that talk needs to start at home, years before the students reach high school.
"That conversation needs to happen in middle school, typically around sixth grade, when parents decide kids can have their own computer and devices," Prentiss said. "And we all have to be in this together. Technology changes so rapidly, and the kids are always three steps ahead of the adults because that's the environment they're growing up in."
Thomas agrees that online monitoring is important, and he suggested parents have passwords for their children's devices and check them from time to time. But parents also should visit their children's bedrooms.
"Part of getting our kids to be productive members of society requires us protecting them from themselves," Thomas said. "How do you do that? You start by making sure there's not any bad stuff in the common areas and you go into their bedrooms. You're not necessarily snooping or trying to find stuff, but you're definitely seeing what's going on."
Seeing what's going on has also been a theme at both Hinsdale high schools this week. Prentiss said the district is using the teen's arrest and the online threats leading up to it as an opportunity to reinforce the district's "See something, say something" culture.
"We're in this culture now, and this is not the first situation in which an observant student helped us avert a bad situation," she said.
Prentiss said students have also been reminded throughout the week about the district's anonymous tip line.
"We recognize students are attached to their smartphone," she said. "We also realize they're more likely to use it to call an anonymous tip line than they are to walk into a dean's office."