This story appeared on WOWT.
Through Nebraska's Safe2Help program, parents and students can report any incidents that happens at a school.
"Any school, public, or non-public can come on board," Jay Martin, safety and security director for the Nebraska Department of Education, said. "It goes straight to the Boys Town call center, there's crisis counselors available 24 hours, and seven days a week."
Once the report is submitted, Martin told 6 News that they work to prevent an incident before it happens.
"It's set up with a threat assessment team of five or more people within a school district," Martin said. "Typically, it's an administrator, the mental health professional, someone from law enforcement and two other people... It goes to the threat assessment team in real time and it's a text to them that something is going on."
The program has been around since 2020. Since launching, Martin said they've received a total of 3,797 tips with 45% of them involving middle schools.
"Number one is bullying and cyberbullying, two is suicide, and three is drugs," Martin said.
Martin said law enforcement has gotten involved in about 20% of incidents. The other 80% were handled by school staff. The anonymous reporting helps them evaluate the situation from both sides.
"The more information we have, the better off we're going to be to get that person the help that they might need," Martin said. "It's not always a victim. It could be a person that's actually the perpetrator that people are talking about that need help."
When reporting on the Safe2Help app, it's important to provide as many details as you can, including screen shots, the platform the incident was posted on, and social media handles that might be involved.
