(Note: Items in red were removed or changed by The Piliot from the submitted letter.)

On May 15th, the Purge senior prank (https://bit.ly/1Ixp0BX) was followed on the 17th by a school shooting in Texas, and on the 18th by a "joke" threat at our high school plus the start of season 2 of the suicide driven Netflix series "13 Reason Why" (https://bit.ly/2GGHRQZ). That was a very disturbing week.

Details on what happened and who authorized the prank are sketchy as the Pilot article on May 19 reported, "School officials did not respond to requests for comment..."

If you have a student in the high school, have you talked with them about their experience (https://bit.ly/2IGu6nm), especially around the "prank"? Were they frightened or concerned? Did they go to the counselor's office or school based clinic or call home? Did anyone harass them, make menacing remarks or actions, or physically or emotionally abuse them?

For those who want to do something about it, actually filing a complaint is more effective than feeding the Facebook frenzy. Find information at https://bit.ly/2LkqcSI (class="Apple-converted-space"> added) For those who are concerned about retribution, you can file an anonymous complaint form https://bit.ly/2IEiDbQ page 3.

If you or they would like to share their experience with us, send comments to https://bit.ly/2GFc6YV. You don't need to include your name or email address.

Don't be a "Not my child" parent (http://bit.ly/2csJaVO) who might regret not checking in with them. #safeschoolsmatter

Gordon Clay
Brookings