FARMINGTON, N.M – “One in nine children in America are experiencing anxiety or depression or one in eight children in New Mexico,” said Keith Schember, a psychological support advisor with Save the Children. 

It’s an alarming statistic across our state and country, children dealing with mental illness in a place where they are supposed to feel safe – in school.

Last week, Heights Middle School in Farmington was placed on lockdown after police say a student, whose parent works at the school, wrote a threatening note targeting certain students.

The threat said, “I am going to steal my mom’s key card and radio and keys, so I have access to everywhere in the building. That night I am going to get a gun out of our safe, I know the code and hide it in a closet at school so if ever just want to pull it out of nowhere so I can kill everyone I hate.” 

According to a police report, the student wrote the threat out of anger over being bullied and nothing was done about it. 

So, what can adults do about it? Experts say it is important for parents and authority figures to make sure children are heard. 

“Establishing a safe place where children feel that they can come and have these conversations,” said Schemper. 

He said it’s important to be present in children’s lives and check in daily. That way, when a child has a problem, they feel comfortable talking to an adult about it. 

“That can be about big or small things having open-ended dialogue on those little things so when bigger things come up you’re also able to chat about those,” said Shemper. 

The student who made the threat last week is now suspended and faces multiple charges.