A three-day suspension followed the discovery of a notebook labeled “Death Note” at Chocksett Middle School in Sterling, Massachusetts. Police investigated and found no evidence of a threat or immediate danger, NBC Boston reported. The case shows that a school disciplinary response and a police assessment are distinct decisions; the police finding did not erase the alarm the notebook caused among some families.
Principal Tina Boss described the notebook’s anime connection and its theme as inappropriate, according to NBC Boston. The student reportedly told school officials the notebook was tied to the show and was not intended as a threat. Police visited the school to reassure families and staff, the outlet reported; the student was not publicly identified.
Jen Dicanda told NBC Boston that her 13-year-old daughter saw her name among other students’ names in the notebook, and that another student alerted a teacher. Dicanda said she wanted her daughter to have no contact with the student, while also hoping the student would receive help. The Wachusett Regional School District cited student privacy in limiting what it could discuss, NBC Boston reported.
Similar notebooks, different reported outcomes
The name refers to Death Note, a Japanese manga adapted for television and film. Its story centers on a supernatural notebook that kills people whose names are written in it, a fictional premise that helps explain the notebook’s label but does not establish a student’s intent. The series’ history is separate from the facts investigators assessed in Sterling.
A documented comparison comes from Pell City, Alabama. WBRC reported in October 2022 that a sixth grader was expelled after a Death Note was found; the case also involved a police investigation. WBRC’s account describes a different school and a different disciplinary outcome from Sterling’s three-day suspension. These two cases are examples, not evidence of how often such notebooks appear or of a shared cause.
