MONROE — Area school district officials, ready to start Christmas break amid another year of COVID fear in the classroom, had to contend with another kind of virus last week.

The culprit locally and nationally was what CNN called a “vague and viral video” on social network site TikTok. The reported threat was not directed at any specific school, district or individual but promised violence last Friday, Dec. 17 at any school in the country.

As a result, school officials in Monroe, Monticello, Darlington and elsewhere were forced to issue statements or social media posts telling students and parents to calm down. And that put a strain on resources just before the holiday break.

Monticello Police Chief Szvon Conway reminded parents that while the post is unspecific and not credible “there is an officer at the school everyday.” In addition, he said “all motion in and out of the school has been monitored every day.”

Darlington police posted that — as a result of the threat locally and nationwide — they contacted the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center to ensure it was a hoax. Nonetheless, they too ensured the public that police were on hand Friday and staff prepared.

In Monroe, officials also issued a statement cautioning parents and students about contributing to the problem, saying “this situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats.”

Instead of immediately posting threats or concerns about violence to social media, Monroe encouraged students to report such incidents immediately to school staff. Indeed, district officials had to walk a fine line between responding to a potential threat, and enhancing its impact by mentioning it all.

Experts say that just reporting on such incidents can inspire copycats and further attention seeking threats.

For its part, TikTok issued statements saying that it was scrubbing the platform of any mention of violence and even eliminating the posts telling students to be careful, as they are a way to instill fear without actually issuing a threat, which is taken down immediately per the social networking giant’s own policies.

Nationally, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security looked into the threats and experts fumed about all of the coverage of rumor that marks the viral nature of today’s media environment.

“We are deeply concerned that the proliferation of local media reports on an alleged trend that has not been found on the platform could end up inspiring real-world harm,” TikTok said in a statement, released by CNN.

But by Monday morning, and with no reported arrests and no violence, there was no official mention of the viral incident on Tik Tok’s corporate web site.