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“They were joking around saying, ‘we’re going to shoot you,’” said a student from Columbine High School after the 1999 tragedy. If there had been a confidential way to report what he’d heard, could the lives of a dozen students been spared? Evidence suggests this may be the case. According to William F. Downey, retired special FBI agent, “Best practices in security today is to have a variety of ways in which students, parents, teachers, and anyone in the community can report information, including an anonymous tip line such as the Safe School Helpline®. Often people are afraid of retribution, and this eliminates that excuse.’’ In fact, when a confidential Safe School Helpline® goes into a school district as part of a comprehensive safety plan, incidents of violence, harassment and drug-related activity seem to suddenly drop away. Now, funding this cost-effective program with federal, state and local funds is easier. “For a penny a day, you can make a substantial impact on the safety in school question. You really can do something meaningful,” says Mike Fox, the Butler County, Ohio Commissioner and former chair of the Education Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives, where he served nearly 23 years. “The day after the Columbine incident, I called the governor’s office and said, ‘It’s essential to put the Helpline in the budget. ‘I really believe in this.” |
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