Kid threatened by fellow student to give him money; considers telling police. AITA?
When this kid is worried about a student who is threatening him, he asks Reddit:
"A student at my school has been forcing me to give him money (15M)?"
For the last few weeks a boy (15-16) at my school (UK) has been forcing me to empty out my pockets and bag to him. When there is no money, he demands i bring a large sum of money the next day or he will stab me.
I have run out of money. Today I tried voice recording him saying stuff, but he noticed and he demanded more money for tomorrow.
The voice recording is also terrible quality and doesnt contain much, except for him emptying my pockets.
I have considered talking to the school, my parents and the police about this but he says if i tell anyone he or someone else he knows will stab me. I have no idea what to do, any advice?
Let's see what readers thought.
soubrieg6 writes:
Speak to your parents, and get them to speak to the police ASAP. THEN tell the school. In that order. This stops the school trying to deal with it internally and not involving the police. I'd also recommend not going to school the day you initiate it, so in the event that he was being serious about escalating things if you told anyone, you're protected.
Him threatening repeatedly to stab you, takes this quite deep into criminal territory, and the police should 100% be notified. Do not suffer alone and in silence, you have a support network around you, use it.
jdwright writes:
Former UK teacher here. Do not allow the school to fob you off without dealing with this. You need to get your parents to contact the school and speak to either the headteacher or the designated safeguarding lead. They need to put in place a safety plan for you.
Most schools should support you at that point and ensure you and the other child are never in contact, while they work with the police. However, if they try to brush you off use the magic words of duty of care. They have been informed of a credible threat to your life, and failing to act would be to neglect their duty of care to you.
The police may try to brush this off as a school matter. Calmly reiterate that this person has demanded money with menaces, and threatened retaliation if you get help.
Have they ever shown you a knife? If so, the school has a right (and arguably a duty) to have a senior member of staff search the students bag. Ideally this would be done by a police liaison officer, but that will depend on their relationship with the local police. Being caught with a knife would significantly increase the chances of the police doing something.
You can also ask to speak to a police officer about your personal safety. That may include things like your route to school, and carrying an attack alarm.
Non legal advice: I’m really sorry this is happening to you, but remember this person is relying on your fear. You may unfortunately have to fight harder than you should to be safe, but if you’re persistent things will change. This kind of behaviour, left unchecked, almost always escalates, so continuing to give them money and not reporting it will only make things worse.
fujimuseum writes:
Everyone that he is saying not to tell - tell them all. Tomorrow morning, tell your parents, if you feel you can. Then go to the school office and show them everything you have about him on your phone.
This is not your problem to handle. The adults around you will deal with this.When you're 15-16, it might feel like you have to deal with everything yourself or even maybe that adults have no clue and wouldn't even know how to handle the situation.
But you don't have to feel alone. Your parents and teachers will help you, please, please talk to an adult you trust tomorrow.
tetradicted writes:
Do not listen to people telling you to tell the school. Tell your PARENTS and insist they tell the POLICE. This is a death threat and is way beyond the school. Your starting point is parents, then the police. The police will inform the school. DO NOT let the school or anyone else convince you that the police should not be involved. Good luck OP.