CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina’s highest education department is urging school districts to opt-in to an anonymous reporting app called Say Something.
This comes after the tragic mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Say Something is a violence prevention program from the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise. The program allows both students and adults to submit anonymous safety concerns through an app, website, or hotline.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is the latest school in WCNC Charlotte's viewing area to get the Say Something App. They started training students in January.
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Although they were behind the curve compared to districts like Union County, which started the program in 2019.
Both districts say they’ve received hundreds of tips.
When the program first rolled out, East Mecklenburg High School's principal said it would be a complete overhaul of how and when the school receives tips that may be life-threatening.
"It's important because I think a lot of students you know, some of them don't mind reporting, others, they just don't want to be known as the person that told and they get labeled a snitch," Rick Parker said.
Since then CMS says they've had more than 1,100 tips this year.
Union County Public Schools said since the beginning of the school year in August they’ve received 439.
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The head of North Carolina’s Center for Safer Schools told lawmakers this week that 98 out of 115 school districts schools districts are using the program.
The app received 431 tips that alerted districts of a planned school attack; more than half -- 254 -- were deemed credible.
According to the Center for Safer Schools, it means the threats involved were clear or convincing evidence of an imminent threat.
When it comes to tips about students’ lives being in danger, the app received the most tips about school attacks, followed by suicide tips and possible self-harm.
If you or a loved one are facing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, there is help readily available. You can call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or chat with them online. There are also resources in North Carolina available here and in South Carolina available here.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.