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The United States Secret Service’s Safe Schools Initiative, completed in 2002, found that in 81% of school shootings, the attacker tells someone about his/her plans before committing a violent act. Over 90% of the time, the person whom the attacker tells is a classmate, sibling or peer of some kind. Many times, students know when violence is going to occur at school. Although they have reported a desire to prevent tragedies and keep their schools safe, oftentimes students do not feel comfortable telling an adult about a threat. The main reasons for this is fear of physical retaliation, of being labeled a snitch or of being thought to have overreacted to a joke. A 2007 study by Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice found that 83% of middle school students would report a classmate with a weapon if they could do so anonymously. 1-866-SPEAK-UP provides just such an anonymous mechanism for students to do the right thing and report what they know without the fear of their identities being revealed.
Yes. Although the SPEAK UP New Mexico campaign and the hotline are primarily designed for and promoted to students, anyone can call the hotline to report a threat of violence. Surprisingly, a fair number of reports made to counselors actually come from parents whose children have told them about threats at school.
When a student calls 1-866-SPEAK-UP, he/she is connected with a professional counselor. The caller is immediately reminded that if the call is an emergency, he/she should hang up and dial 911. The counselor also reminds the caller that the call is completely anonymous. The counselor then asks the caller a series of questions, developed in partnership with law enforcement and education experts. The script was designed to encourage the caller to provide as much information as possible about the threat so that a useful report can be conveyed to the authorities. After the counselor finishes gathering information about the threat, he/she advises the caller to call back if there is any additional information to report.
After the caller hangs up, the counselor generates a written report from the answers provided by the caller during the course of the conversation. If a school is involved, the counselor searches through a school database to find up-to-date contact information for the school district. The counselor calls the superintendent or another contact person designated by the district and relays the threat information. The counselor then immediately faxes a copy of the written report to the district. The counselor then repeats the same process of calling and faxing the report to the appropriate local law enforcement agency.
E-mail speakup@paxusa.org or call 1-800-983-4275 with the new contact information as soon as possible. It is extremely important that 1-866-SPEAK-UP hotline have the most up-to-data contact information possible. Similarly, if the primary or alternate contact person has changed, please let us know immediately.
No. 1-866-SPEAK-UP is accessible to students across the United States. It has existed nationally since October 2002. During that time, it has received over 25,000 calls from all 50 states and Puerto Rico.