say something week: prevent violence or suicide in YOUR child's school

Did you know?

When it comes to violence, suicide and threats, most are known by at least one other individual before the incident takes place.
In 4 out of 5 school shootings, the attacker told people of his or her plans ahead of time.
7 out of 10 people who complete suicide told someone of their plans or gave some type of warning or indication.

I had no idea. Really and truly. But it makes sense.

Imagine how much tragedy could be averted if these individuals said something?

For years now, I have supported Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a nonprofit organization created by members of the Newtown community in response to the Sandy Hook Tragedy.

I love the focus of this organization: to prevent gun-related deaths due to crime, suicide, and accidental discharge, so that no other parent experiences the senseless, horrific loss of their child.

Say Something Week is an initiative of Sandy Hook Promise.

It’s something that I really, truly wish every, single middle and high school could bring to its students. It’s that important.

It’s a game-changer, friends.

And I believe that it can be a major way to put an end to this kind of senseless gun violence.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Say Something Week — Prevent Violence or Suicide in YOUR Child’s School:

Say Something teaches students, grades 6 -12, how to look for warning signs, signals and threats – especially in social media – from individuals who may want to hurt themselves or others and to Say Something to a trusted adult to get them help.

The program is based on research conducted by Dr. Dewey Cornell and Dr. Reid Meloy, two leading national experts in threat assessment and intervention.

When is Say Something Week?

During the week of October 24 – 28, 2016, hundreds of schools and youth organizations across the United States will be participating in National Say Something Week.

How does Say Something Week work?

Say Something Week raises awareness and educates students and the community through training, media events, advertising, public proclamations, contests and school awards. Say Something Week reinforces the power young people have to prevent tragedies and Say Something to a trusted adult to protect a friend from hurting them self or others!

Watch to learn more:

How do I get involved?

To sign up your school or youth organization to participate in National Say Something Week, October 24 – 28, please visit: http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/saysomethingweek.

There are super-simple letter templates to use, emails to send, and resources to download.

Honestly, I learned about Say Something Week via a Sandy Hook Promise email, and do you know what I did?

I simply took two minutes to read about the campaign, then I took 30 seconds–30 seconds!–to use the letter generator to send the information to my daughter’s middle school principal.

And do you know what?

Her principal is so awesome that she is implementing this program at my daughter’s school!

What to know what they’re doing?

A video contest! Talk about a super cool way of getting kids involved!

Here’s what the principal sent to families:

Want to see your name in lights? Show off your amateur filmmaking skills? Tap into your inner Spielberg? To commemorate Say Something Week which occurs simultaneously with Red Ribbon Week (October 24-28), we are calling all [middle school] filmmakers to create videos stressing the importance of speaking up when you think someone is in danger of hurting themselves or others.

The video needs to be:

3 minutes or less

appropriate for a middle school audience

directly related to the theme.

Be creative and capture the attention of your peers! Submit your video by Friday, October 21^st to [the principal, by email]. Please include the name(s) and grade level of the student(s) who worked on the film. If approved and chosen, videos will be shown on the morning announcements throughout the school year. If you have any questions, ask your counselor!

Who Can Participate in Say Something Week?

Say Something is a no-cost and easy to implement program that is available to all middle schools, high schools and youth organizations serving youth grades 6 – 12.

In addition to young people, Say Something will benefit educators, administrators, community based organization leaders and parents. By building a culture of looking out for one another and reporting possible threats of violence when someone sees, reads or hears something, entire communities will become safer and lives will be saved.

I honestly love this initiative.

Because really, truly, we have to teach our kids to look out for one another. If they start now, the world will be a better place.