Conference Coverage

Sandy Hook Promise: Four programs help people recognize signs of a threat


 

EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM AAP 18

Start With Hello

This program “teaches youth how to identify and minimize social isolation, marginalization, and rejection in order to create an inclusive, connected community,” Mr. Barden explained. The goals of the program are to reduce bullying, foster socialization, increase engagement, and change a culture from within.

SOS Signs of Suicide

This is Sandy Hook Promise’s newest program and is built on a program developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following the Virginia Tech shooting and adapted for school-based applications.

“It also develops a multidisciplinary team within the school who acts as various touch points who know how to recognize a potential warning sign and then triage that information and take steps to get to the root cause of that behavior and not just bandage the wound,” Mr. Barden explained.

SaySomething

The organization’s flagship program does the most to recruit student involvement in recognizing the signs of a potential threat, particularly in social media, and report the individual and their behavior to a trusted adult or through Sandy Hook Promise’s Anonymous Reporting System.

“The kids take this one, and they run with it and do amazing things with it,” Mr. Barden said, noting that it particularly helps students recognize warning signs on social media. “We have growing evidence of kids following this model, and we’ve already prevented mass shootings and numerous suicides with this.”

Safety Assessment & Intervention (SAI) program

This program “trains a multidisciplinary team how to identify, assess, and respond to threats and observed at-risk behaviors,” Mr. Barden said. SAI aims to create a safer, more open school environment with less violence, bullying, and threats. That includes reducing educators’ fear and anxiety, and leading students to have a more positive view of teachers and staff.

Students can report tips to the Anonymous Reporting System through the website, calling the hot line or via a free mobile app. Regardless of the method, the anonymous tips go to a 24/7 multilingual crisis center and, if needed, law enforcement. The crisis center contacts the appropriate school official via text, email, or a phone call, and the case is tracked in real time until it’s addressed, resolved, and closed.

All of these programs are freely available to any school or institution who wants to use them, Mr. Barden said, because the organization does not want cost to get in the way of any school or community that is taking advantage of tools to reduce the risk of violence.

In fact, more than 3.5 million youth and adults in more than 7,000 schools in every state have been trained in these programs, helping hundreds of youth access mental health and wellness help, he said. The program has reduced truancy, bullying, and other forms of violence and victimization, and it has intervened in multiple school shooting plans across the United States.

Mr. Barden wrapped up his address with his gratitude for pediatricians’ willingness to be partners in reducing gun violence.

“I want to tell you how much it means to me that you took the time to come here and listen to my story and the work I’m doing,” he said, “and how proud I am to be able to share it with you, and how proud I am to be able to honor that little kid who truly was the caretaker of all living things and to continue that spirit in his honor and in his absence.”

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