Is it really Safe2Say Something?

Bullying and threats toward other students have been an issue among schools for many years; however, they have become progressively more prominent due to many issues such as the increase in mental health issues among students.

Milton Area School District began to use the Safe2Say Something program as it launched statewide in January of the 2018-19 school year.

According to the Safe2Say Something website, over one million students have reported being harassed or bullied by another student in school since it launched in Jan. 2019. Although there have been many students who have reported incidents through Safe2Say, the program does not seem to be effective in the Milton Area School District because there has not been a noticeable change in the overall school atmosphere since the district initiated the program.

Walking through the halls and talking to other students about the Safe2Say program, I often hear students making fun of the program or saying the website is stupid. I also don’t completely understand the program and what it can be used for. Sometimes I too question why it is necessary and if it is actually useful.

If Safe2Say were taken seriously, there would be a substantial number of incident reports; however, looking at other students’ posts on social media, incidents have flown under the radar and have not been reported.

I also hear students asking what Safe2Say is. The idea that some students don’t know what the program is used for leads me to believe that it is not being promoted enough throughout the school. If the program was explained in detail to each class, every student would be knowledgeable about the subject.

Despite the many anti-bullying assemblies the high school presents for the students and the amount of guest speakers who have visited to talk about how bullying is wrong, many students in the high school continue to get bullied. Students continue to threaten the school as well, despite the real stories of school shootings.

The Safe2Say app has only a 2.3 star rating on the IOS app store and 2.7 on the Google Play app store, which is notably low. The majority of the ratings on the app stores are jokes or references to other subjects, and most of the serious ratings are lower star ratings.

A reviewer gave the app a five star rating, but responded with a review that had nothing to do with the app at all. The review referred to the app as a game and recommended the readers to subscribe to their YouTube channel. This review was clearly posted for comical reasons and does not mention the app Safe2Say directly at all.

Another reviewer gave the IOS app a one star rating; however, this reviewer appeared to be serious and said, “I think this idea was good but I think the app needs some work. I like the anonymous part but that makes it easier to write fake reviews and make something up…Obviously there are [some things] that need to be changed, made clear, or stressed further, but I do think if the app was changed then it could be life saving.”

Although the website was created as a serious program to be used in schools across Pennsylvania, it is perceived as a joke to teens because of the immaturity of students and this generation’s tendency to create jokes out of every situation possible because they think it is “cool.” The students who do not take the program seriously are often the ones who end up getting in trouble for the actions the program is supposed to prevent.

The Safe2Say program is a great program in theory, but it is not promoted and explained to students well enough to be effective. There are many solutions that can be administered into the school to create an overall better atmosphere, such as having complete access to staff who are trained to discuss personal situations with students, but as of now, they have not been implemented.

According to the staff section of the high school webpage, there are staff members who are professionally trained in psychology and counseling and would be able to provide care and advice for students. These include Home and School Visitor/Social Worker Ms. Catherine Temple, School Psychologist Dr. James Meadow, Guidance Counselors Mr. David Newell and Ms. Leslie Robinson and School Resource Officer Mr. Dennis Derr.

Having these professionals more available and perhaps hiring even more to assist students would provide more safety and reassurance for students who need assistance. I know many students prefer to talk to people in person rather than over a device because they get immediate support and information from these professionals. No one is better than a person at providing reassurance to those that are contemplating suicide or self-harm.

Using the simple method of talking to people in person would provide a faster and more effective outcome than the Safe2Say app.