Johnston County Public Schools has officially launched the “Say Something” Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS) for students.
The Say Something program is for reporting any type of serious concerns about students who are struggling or potentially violent. So “tipsters” can send reports on anything from school threats they’ve seen or overheard to personal crises including sexual harassment, self-harm, and depression.
The SS-ARS allows youth and adults to securely submit anonymous safety concerns – anytime, from anywhere – to help identify and intervene upon at-risk individuals before they hurt themselves or others. The system enables school administrators and law enforcement to create effective interventions and to help prevent violence, suicide, bullying, self-harm, and other forms of threatening behavior.
JCPS students in grades 6-12 were trained on all of the ways to utilize the SS-ARS during the week of Nov. 30 – Dec. 4.
Say Something is a youth violence prevention program from the national nonprofit organization Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), which has funding to provide the program and training at no cost to the district.
“If a student needs to speak up about a concern – whether it’s about themselves or someone else – but they don’t know who to turn to, Say Something is here,” said Executive Director of the North Carolina Center for Safer Schools, Bo Caldwell. “It’s a robust system that’s always on, always accessible, and it allows students to voice their concerns anonymously, while making sure their messages are heard by the right adults.”
Designed specifically for use by students in grades 6-12, SS-ARS provides three reporting platforms (mobile app, website, 24/7 phone hotline) for users to submit tips – and a crisis center to examine and triage those tips. When credible tips are received, the crisis center will notify school-based representatives, even after hours when tips are life-threatening and require immediate intervention. In cases of imminent threat, the crisis center will contact local 911 dispatch and involve law enforcement.
Students can submit a tip through the online Say Something system by visiting www.saysomething.net. The free app is available for download from the App Store and Google Play Store. Students can also submit tips through the hotline by calling 1-844-5-SAYNOW.
There are 2,364 schools and school districts participating in the Say Something system, with more than 1.7 million students and adults trained in the SS-ARS, according to Sandy Hook Promise.
