this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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Student Teacher Sent a Private Snapchat Complaining About Her Workday. An Hour Later, Police Pulled Up to Her School. (www.gadgetreview.com)
submitted 17 hours ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
311 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took for a private Snapchat message to travel from Kristen Volpe’s phone to the FBI to the deputies standing in her elementary school hallway. On January 29, 2025, the 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary in Washington, Illinois, vented to her boyfriend and two roommates — three people total — after a student closed her laptop mid-class and wiped her lesson plan. She referenced shooting the student or the school. She meant it as a frustrated joke. Snapchat’s algorithm didn’t get the humor.

No student reported her. No parent. No coworker. The flag was entirely automated. Snapchat’s policy permits voluntary emergency disclosures to law enforcement — no warrant required — when the platform determines imminent harm exists. The algorithm makes that initial call. Think of it like your Ring doorbell deciding to call 911 on its own, except the doorbell is reading your text messages.

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[–] webadict@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Because humor is a survival mechanism. Joking about extremely serious things helps us through hard times.

That's why some people laugh when they're upset or angry. That's why people mime blowing their brains out. That's why people make suicide jokes or "Don't come to work tomorrow" or fucking 9/11 jokes.

Like, you wanna be upset about a school shooting joke that was told to people in confidence, that's fucking insane. Fuck off.

[–] isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Seriously. I'm tired of the haughty Puritans pretending they don't know what morbid humor is. At my grandfather's funeral, my whole family was doing it. It's a way to grieve. For example, he was a farmer. He literally bought the farm. at several points in his life. One of the jokes I remember making was, "he bought the farm, and later he bought the farm!"

My younger brother lived a very troubled life. Struggled with a lot of mental health and related substance abuse issues. Served time in jail after committing armed robbery for drug money. Died in his late 20s from an OD. But he was still my brother, and I still loved him. At his funeral:

"HE'S ROBBING ANGELS NOW!"

Frankly, if someone can't appreciate morbid humor, I don't want to be friends with them.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 0 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm sorry but this "extremely serious thing" that required this "survival mechanism" was a student closing their laptop lid. That really qualifies for you?

Or are you arguing they were using this moment to alleviate the stress they have about constant school shootings across the USA?

[–] webadict@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I joke about running over children and families for multikill bonus points when they walk in front of me while I'm driving.

I joke about calling in bomb threats when I want to have a day off work.

I joke about killing myself instead of taking the garbage out.

So, yeah, I don't really think anyone should be arrested for making a private joke. Like, who are you trying to convince?