Illinois teacher picks up her phone in ‘exasperation,’ mere hours later, police march in and arrest her but says she is harmless

Not every modern invention is a boon – a lesson that a 22-year-old school teacher learned the hard way when the police showed up in her class, took her aside for a simple action she does every day, and grilled her with questions, only to promptly arrest her even as they agreed that she meant no harm to anyone.

The day started like every other day for Kristen Volpe, a student-teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary School  – she had her lessons planned, classes scheduled. But the norm broke when she found herself face-to-face with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who started questioning her if she had any weapons on her and then proceeded to grill her about her Snapchat activity. She admitted that she messages her roommate and boyfriend on Snapchat and often shares pictures of the kids she teaches. But she couldn’t fathom what could have prompted the police to come knocking on her classroom door.

Apparently, on this fateful day, Kristen made a snap about a student who walked up to her in class and closed her laptop, ending her lesson plan. In the snap, which she sent in a group chat of three people, she asked if she should “shoot” the child for the action. The Snapchat AI then flagged the message for this word and alerted the FBI.

Even though Kristen insisted that the message was meant in jest and that she never gets mad at her students, the damage was done. The police questioned her if she truly snapped, even in words at the student, and though she shared that her frustration was limited to the message, the police informed her that she would have to spend a night in jail as they were asked by the FBI to process her. The police proceeded to tell a visibly shaking and crying Kristen that, though they believed her message was nothing but a “joke” and she made the snap out of “exasperation,” the word she used turned it into a serious offense. 

The parents of the student also received an email from Washington District 50 Schools Superintendent Chad Allaman, who explained what went down and assured them that Volpe won’t be returning to the school to finish her educational assignment.

Even a year after the incident, people are still divided on the punishment Kristen received for a seemingly harmless joke.

Was it right for Kristen to joke about shooting a child? Most certainly not. But she did end up getting arrested and losing the job that most probably hindered her from getting another job.