That the targets are schools suggests the perpetrator or perpetrators are juvenile but this may not necessarily be the case. There are any number of motivations for those who wish to disrupt and distress.
It is likely, however, that this is some lonely misfit with a keyboard and a history of disappointing their family.
It is also likely this has been done via internet bot, a software application that runs automated tasks such as messaging on a large scale. Internet bots are able to perform tasks, that are simple, repetitive, and much faster than a person could ever do.
Enabling a cyber bot to telephone schools somewhere else in the world and trigger alarms may give their sorry existence a brief thrill.
Police assistant commissioner Bruce O'Brien says the threats are likely to be coming from overseas, also adding further suspicion that they are empty taunts. A similar threat was issued to New Zealand schools in 2017 from offshore and that person was traced and held to account.
However, it is the right thing to do to evacuate schools and follow all well-considered procedures. It is a sad reality that all schools now have step-by-step instructions for responding to these events.
Parents are understandably concerned by these episodes but schools hold regular drills to monitor the robustness of their ability to react to various forms of threat. Children in 2022 have lockdown and evacuation lessons as part of their routine education.
As with the case in 2017, the miscreants need to be tracked down and stopped before they cause more mayhem.
When caught, offenders behind such stupid stunts should be named, shamed and the world made aware of what happens to these losers.
