News File Photo Students exit Alpena High School at the end of a school day in this January 2022 News file photo.

ALPENA — Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski will remain mum about students accused of making school-related threats at Alpena High School in recent months.

On Wednesday, Muszynski said she had decided how to handle those threats but would not say whether the students will be charged.

Withholding that information could help keep such behavior from happening again, Muszynski said.

In January, Muszynski charged a Thunder Bay Junior High School student with terrorism or false report of terrorism related to a threat allegedly made by the student on Dec. 9.

The student could face up to removal from the community and placement in a juvenile detention center, Muszynski said.

Informing the community about the junior high student’s charge opened the student to public scrutiny, potentially impeding the possibility of changed behavior, she said on Wednesday, refusing to share the same information related to the high school incidents.

In rural areas, minors accused of crimes lack the anonymity of students in larger cities and are more likely to be singled out by peers and adults, who won’t always respond in a helpful way, she said.

Shielding young people from scrutiny — including by not sharing whether she will file charges against them — increases the chance they will learn from their wrongdoing in a healthy way and avoid similar mistakes in the future, Muszynski said.

“I just want to be sure that we are protecting them and giving them as fair a shake to right their ship as we can,” she said. “We want kids to not do this anymore.”

On Dec. 9, separately from the junior high threat, APS officials reported a school-related threat by a high school student, leading school officials to close both schools for two days for a police investigation.

In January, school officials on at least two occasions removed a student from an AHS classroom because of threatening language or activity.

Dozens of schools around the state reported threats allegedly made by students following a November school shooting in Oxford that left four dead and seven injured.

Last week, Muszynski and APS Superintendent David Rabbideau recorded a video cautioning students about potential legal consequences for threats against schools, even if made in jest.

Juvenile court is not a criminal court, and people charged as juveniles are found responsible or not responsible rather than guilty or not guilty, Muszynski said.

The end result, she said, is not called a conviction but does appear on a criminal history report.