Smoky Hill ESC Partners with STOPit to Confront School Safety, Bullying, Harassment, Violence
Kids are in school to learn; they shouldn’t also have to worry about how to handle a threat of violence they overhear or bullying behavior they observe.
Thanks to a partnership between Smoky Hill Education Service Center and STOPit Solutions, many Kansas K-12 students will have a new, powerful tool to help make their schools a safer place.
Neil Hooper, chief operating officer of STOPit Solutions, said that the STOPit app helps more than 3,500 institutions worldwide create safer schools. The app, website, and phone hotline allow continuous reporting and 24-hour monitoring of potential or actual school violence, harassment, bullying, or self-harm, Hooper said.
“We could not be more excited to work with Smoky Hill to help Kansas schools with their school and student safety,” Hooper said.
Students may use STOPit to report incidents anonymously, but the website and app also allow STOPit representatives to ask follow-up questions for more details. With the new Smoky Hill ESC partnership, school districts can address these important school safety issues at a low cost with minimal administration required from schools.
Chris Moddelmog, executive director of SHESC, said he was excited to add the STOPit app to the service center’s wide variety of critical programs and services.
“Learning is at the heart of every school,” Moddelmog said. “However, learning can’t really begin if students don’t feel safe and secure in the classroom. STOPit is a great tool for empowering students to take action, and we’re looking forward to offering it.”
Heath Johnston, assistant principal with Shenandoah County Public Schools in Virginia, has already experienced STOPit and said it solves a perennial problem in education.
“There’s always a focus on finding a way for students to report [situations] but not having to come forward,” Johnston said, “because it’s intimidating for some people to come into the office and tell the principal.”