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Education Dive
Report: Safety tip lines flag bullying, drug use, suicide risk
Though the tech was originally meant to identify gun violence threats,
a national study found 75% of principals thought tip lines made them
more aware of overall safety issues at their schools.
Naaz Modan
March 2, 2020
More schools are using safety tips lines, but not just for gun violence
prevention — the technology is addressing bullying, drug use and
suicide risk among students.
Those are among the findings of a nationwide study looking at how
schools are using tip lines as a safety measure. The report, which was
conducted by RTI International, a nonprofit research institution, was
based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,226
school principals surveyed between February and July 2019. The study,
said to be the first of its kind, was funded by an award from the U.S.
Department of Justice.
According to the findings, just over half (51%) of public middle and
high schools were operating a tip line at the end of the last school
year. Many tip lines were relatively new (60%), in operation three or
fewer years, but 15% were in operation for 10 years or longer.
Colorado public schools, for example, has had its Safe2Tell Initiative
since about 2004. The tip line was originally put in place in response
to the Columbine High School mass shooting in 1999, but in recent years
has been primarily used to report suicide threats, drugs and instances
of bullying.
Oregon’s state program tells a similar story — out of the 4,905 tips
that schools in that state received between 2017 and 2019, the majority
were unrelated to possession of a weapon or a planned attack, the RTI
report shows.
According to Michael Planty, one of the study's researchers, this trend
suggests tip lines could be effective for gauging school climate as
opposed to their original purpose of identifying threats.
“Unlike target hardening, which may address one or a couple types of
threats, this is an important tool for schools to have to really
understand the wide scope of problems,” Planty told Education Dive.
According to the report, principals surveyed perceive tip lines as an effective safety strategy, addressing multiple threats:
75% thought tip lines made them more aware of safety issues at their schools.
Over 50% said their schools’ tip lines had prevented violent incidents.
66% believed tip lines allowed their schools to respond more effectively to bullying.
73% said tip lines prevented incidents of self-harm or suicide.
Over half of school tip lines were staffed or monitored 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, and a school staff member received calls, texts or
other entries in real time. And most offered a confidential or
anonymous way for students, parents and others to report information.
The survey also found the types of middle and high schools more likely
to have tip lines were ones with higher enrollments, located in suburbs
and in low-poverty areas.
Concerns remain
But even though an overwhelming majority of principals surveyed have
found the tool effective in everything from flagging potential safety
concerns to preventing incidents of self-harm, concerns remain around
tips submitted with insufficient information. Lack of student awareness
and lack of student-submitted tips were also among the most common
challenges reported.
Coupling the technology with a mental health curriculum that teaches
students how to identify, report and respond to bullying or suicidal
ideation could help solve this problem, Planty said.
Oregon’s program, for example, comes with resources schools can distribute to staff, parents and students.
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