Getting teens to talk may be key to secure schools

Someone has seen the scars on the cutter's arms or the hit list in an angry teen's notebook. Someone has heard the threats from a friend's ex-boyfriend, the plans for a big fight on Saturday night, the cries of the "failure" with no reason to live.

That "someone" is nearly always a teen - a peer of a troubled friend, acquaintance or sibling - who struggles over whether to tell what they know and who to tell it to.

While teens generally prefer to keep adults out of their world, reporting what they know may be the single most effective way to prevent violence and save lives, say experts on teen and school violence.

That may be the most important lesson to come out of the myriad studies and reports on teen violence in the 10 years since the Columbine High School attack. Schools may have tightened security, created and practiced emergency plans and initiated programs to combat bullying, but it is information that stops violence when it is about to erupt.

Consider this: In a study of 37 incidents of school violence, at least one other person knew about the plans in 81 percent of the incidents, and more than one other person had information in 59 percent of the cases, according to a report from the national Safe School Initiative.

"Kids know long before adults what's going on in schools," said Susan Payne, executive director of Colorado's Safe2Tell Initiative, which mans a 24-hour hotline to take anonymous calls on threats to school or community safety. "Rather than have them be afraid to get involved, we want to make sure they have the tools to report.

"It might be perceived as snitching or ratting or the betrayal of a friend, but it's really a betrayal not to report anyone who makes a threat to take their own life or the life of someone else."

SAFE2TELL PROMPTS LIFE-SAVING TIPS

Certainly, school violence did not start at Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher were killed and 23 others wounded before the two student shooters killed themselves. But live televised shots of terrified students fleeing the campus during the attack on April 20, 1999, were seared in the national consciousness, sparking efforts at schools nationwide to ward off similar attacks.

And there have been others, with each one bringing more studies and more awareness of security issues. The attacks in 2006 at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey and the Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, for example, led to schools installing buzzers, cameras and front-door security to keep intruders out.

Experts agree that ID cards or locked doors are unlikely to stop someone bent on carrying out an attack. But tips about a threatened attack or odd behavior can halt an attack.

And they have.

Safe2Tell, the Colorado hotline that began taking calls in September 2004, reports that it has thwarted 28 planned school attacks and 128 teen suicides, and intervened in 229 threats to individuals.

But a tip is no good if it's disregarded, as some cases prove.

A May 2008 Secret Service and Department of Education study, "Prior Knowledge of Potential School-Based Violence," cites a case in which a teen asked a parent whether to report a threat and was told to "mind his own business." There was a shooting at the teen's school the next day.

At Columbine, there were several reports over the years about troubling behavior from Eric Harris, one of the shooters. But they were mostly minor incidents and no one collected information so a pattern could be detected.

So as schools and districts work to make schools physically safer, there is increasing emphasis on creating environments where teens feel safe, care about each other and see talking about and solving problems as empowering rather than snitching. Parents are invited to safe school presentations, and teachers are being trained to know how to properly handle information provided by students.

The 2008 Secret Service study, called the bystander report, examined why some bystanders report threats or troubling behavior and some remain silent. While limited in scope, the study found that a school's climate was key in whether bystanders came forward with information.

That's no surprise to most school officials.

"The preventive pieces are what's key - things like Safe2Tell and the relationships that you build with kids," said Guy Arseneau, superintendent at Woodland Park School District RE-2.

Larry Borland, security chief at Academy School District 20 and president-elect of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers, said it's a never-ending endeavor because one-quarter of the students at high schools and one-third at middle schools are new every year.

Along with striving for environments where every student believes he or she can turn to an adult for help, schools must adopt standard threat assessment procedures, he said.

A subcommittee of the Safe Schools Coalition of the Pikes Peak region recently agreed on a model for threat assessment, and Borland is seeking a grant to produce videos for training for school employees, parents and community members.

"Sometimes it's hard to distinguish ordinary teen sullenness from a real problem," he said. "That's why it's so important to have an adult that teens can talk to. Everybody has a role to play in this."

If the grant comes through, Borland expects to begin producing videos this summer. Otherwise, it might take longer to get them funded, he said.

CONCERNS CAN'T BE MINIMIZED

Studies show that students often think they won't be believed or they'll get in trouble for reporting their concerns. They also fear that authorities will overreact against their friends.

Safe2Tell's Payne said it crucial for adults to not minimize teen concerns, and to help them recognize dangerous relationships. For example, she said, teens often don't recognize that such issues as anger over a breakup can result in domestic violence. And adults must be willing to step in and report teens' concerns to authorities if they are afraid or unwilling to do so themselves.

In fact, about 35 percent of the calls to Safe2Tell are from adults advocating for youngsters, she said.

During a recent presentation at The Classical Academy, Payne told of a call-taker who heard a teen sobbing in the background when her mother called to report a suicidal friend. The teen was afraid she'd lose her friend for telling, whereas the mother was afraid she'd lose her friend to suicide.

Payne also urges schools to take climate surveys because those that do often are surprised at what they learn from teens about such problems as bullying and weapons on and off campus. The teens often won't volunteer such information unless they're asked.

"It takes more than a poster on the wall," Payne said. "It takes active education. We've got to make kids aware of this because if young people understand, they are so open to doing the right thing."

Such as talking about who's hurting, who's angry and who's afraid.

Because the kids know.

Safe2Tell

The statewide hotline allows callers to report any threatening behavior with anonymity guaranteed by state law.

The information - whether it's about a friend who is suicidal or rumors of a MASS ATTACK - are forwarded to law enforcement, schools or other agencies to determine if investigations are warranted.

Calls are taken 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by specially trained operators who can help assess the urgency of the situation. Anonymity is assured under state law.

STARTED: September 2004 with a $375,000 Colorado Trust grant. A second grant was awarded in 2006, and the Colorado State Patrol agreed to pay the director's salary from its Homeland Security division.

CALLS: More than 4,200 have been taken, launching nearly 1,400 investigations or interventions around the state.

RESULTS: Safe2Tell calls have led to:
· 23 arrests

· 192 counseling referrals

· 136 school disciplinary actions

· 28 thwarted school attacks

· 130 prevented suicides

WHAT'S NEW: Safe2Tell can now take anonymous reports on the Web, and is working on a system to have anonymous two-way text messaging. Many teens say they'd be more likely to text a warning than make a call, said director Susan Payne.

GETTING THE WORD OUT: Safe2Tell information will be on the back of most student IDs starting this fall under an agreement with Lifetouch, Payne said. Lifetouch produces about 64 percent of all student IDs in the state, so it will be a boost to getting the word out about the hotline.

CONTACT: http://safe2tell.org/ for more information or set up a presentation or

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Call the writer at 636-0251.