UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Thousands of North Carolina students are using an app to report danger in schools.
The Say Something app is in most North Carolina schools, including in the Charlotte-area.
Wednesday, at a state task force meeting, the Center for Safer Schools reported statewide that more than a thousand tips were already submitted this school year.
"That has been a tremendous asset in identifying issues and identifying children, who may be a harm to themselves or others," Karen Fairley, Center for Safer Schools executive director, said.
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.
Students can submit a number of concerns including acts of violence, weapons, verbal or physical abuse, assault, harassment, sexual abuse, assault or harassment, threats seen on social media, bullying, fighting, harassment, or intimidating behaviors.
Last school year at Sun Valley Middle School in Union County, a student made a report to the Say Something app from one of his classes.
"From that tip, we heard that there was potentially a weapon on a local school campus," Lt. James Maye, the Union County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, said. "We locked the school campus down."
Union County Schools started using the app in 2019.
Getting the app in all schools is a statewide effort; CMS saw the app roll out in 2022.
Fairley said the app is getting the most tips about a certain topic.
"Bullying and cyberbullying has been number one, I can't remember a time when it was not number one," Fairley said.
There is a team working 24/7 on the other end of the app that assesses a student’s tip.
After a student gives information about a safety or mental health concern, a few steps are followed.
A crisis counselor reviews the information and replies to the tip with a private chat message. Students then chat anonymously with the counselor and answer any follow-up questions. Students can also come back to the tip chat later and update their counselor.
"When I see the real-time interaction of young people -- 11, 12 years old -- interacting with the crisis center, who want to take their own lives," Fairley said. "They're 11 and 12 years old, and they have gotten to a place where they feel that they would be best to not be here. And to see the professionalism, the care, and the compassion in real-time through the app is just so reassuring."
A response to a tip ranges from talking to the student or getting the police involved immediately, like in the case of Sun Valley Middle School.
"We ultimately recovered a weapon out of a book bag," Maye said.
Maye said he's thankful students have the tools in their hands.
"It all worked out just as the best way that it could," Maye said.
To see if the Say Something app is available at your child's school you can contact an administrator or the district office.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
If you or a loved one are facing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, there is help readily available. You can call Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat with them online. There are also resources in North Carolina available here and in South Carolina available here.