Districts Combat Bullying and Violence with SafeSchools Alert - New Online System Allows Tips Via Phone, Text, Email, and Web

    CINCINNATI, OH, March 01, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- According to a study by the United States Secret Service and Department of Education that evaluated 41 school shooters, 71% felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others. In several cases, they had experienced school bullying and harassment that was "long-standing and severe." The study also found that most shooters planned their attack in advance and told other students of their intentions. In the Chardon High School case, reports indicate the shooter tweeted he was going to bring a gun to school.

Students often know what is happening in a school before the administration does. However, 57% of students would not report a tip if they could not do it anonymously. The challenge for administrators is how to open the lines of communication so that students can report valuable tips and feel safe doing so. Having information before a threat is acted upon can mean the difference between life and death.

To help districts receive valuable tips about threats to their school's safety, SafeSchools, the leading developer of award-winning online safety and compliance solutions for schools, recently released SafeSchools Alert, a new online system that revolutionizes traditional incident reporting. Unlike anonymous tip lines, SafeSchools Alert allows tips to be submitted and received four convenient ways via phone, text, email, and website. Using the system, students, staff, and parents can confidentially submit safety concerns to their administration 24/7/365. Every tip is immediately logged and routed to administrators, who can then investigate, track, and manage the issue to resolution using Alert's state-of-the-art management system.

According to Brian Taylor, CEO of SafeSchools, "Every student deserves to go to school free of fear. Bullying and violence have no place in a child's life. That's why we built SafeSchools Alert, to give students an easy way to tell what's happening, and administrators a vehicle to investigate, track, and resolve issues before tragedies happen."

The early response to SafeSchools Alert has been tremendous. The system was piloted in 8 states and has been adopted by districts in 14 states, with new customers signing up weekly.

Another key benefit that makes SafeSchools Alert especially valuable to districts is that the system can be customized to address the increasing state mandates that have been enacted in efforts to combat bullying. In Washington, HB 2801 outlines a sample Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying Incident Reporting form that districts should use in their reporting process. Now, that specific form is available in SafeSchools Alert. Similarly, in Oregon, recent legislation ORS 339.351-369 redefines what districts must do regarding harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyberbullying and specifies a mandatory reporting process at each school. SafeSchools Alert now includes a reporting form that supports this mandate for our Oregon customers.

According to Joanne Dickinson, Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying Compliance Officer for Monroe Public Schools in Washington, and an early SafeSchools Alert adopter says, "SafeSchools Alert allows us to respond immediately to reported instances of harassment, intimidation, or bullying. We can easily compile data and inform all staff members who need to act on the reports in a timely manner. SafeSchools Alert, most importantly allows us to provide a safe environment for our staff and students."

For an overview of the SafeSchools Alert system, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqUOhs0uXfQ or call 1.800.434.0154.

SafeSchools LLC, a subsidiary of Scenario Learning LLC, is the leading developer of safety and compliance solutions for the K-12 market, including online systems for staff training, incident reporting and tracking and MSDS management. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company received a District Administration Top 100 Products designation in 2010 and 2011 and currently serves more than 3,000 districts nationwide. For more information, visit www.safeschools.com.

# # #