(CBS DETROIT) – It’s been 10 years since Michigan introduced the OK2SAY program, which allows students to submit confidential tips on issues ranging from mental health issues to threats to schools.
“We get hundreds of calls a year,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police.
State officials celebrated the 10th anniversary of OK2SAY outside Lansing on Monday. The statewide service allows students to submit confidential tips via phone, text, email or through the app.
“It’s a great resource for students to be able to call. It’s confidential; they feed us that information, and then we have a role and responsibility to disseminate it and do the follow-up to make sure, again, that we’re preventing any kind of violent school activity,” Grady said.
Last year, bullying, possible suicide and drug reports were the most commonly reported through the system. According to Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, the program has received more than 60,000 tips in its first decade.
“It only works if people use it,” Gilchrist said. “It’s kids reporting that someone needs help, and so it’s not just about leading to an arrest, it’s about connecting a child with support services.”
Regarding the Oxford High School shooting, Gilchrist says he doesn’t think the program has failed.
“Yes, there have been things submitted through Ok2Say in Oxford; it was good that kids used that platform to be able to submit them. We think it’s terrible that there are still kids being shot and killed, that there are people being shot, and so every one of those situations is an opportunity to find out how many more things we can do to prevent violence,” he said.
A Michigan Department of Education official says OK2SAY will adapt to changing technology as the platform is in use over the next 10 years.
“We’re adapting very quickly, which is kind of funny because the government doesn’t move very quickly,” said Diane Golzynski, an associate director at the Michigan Department of Education. “But in this case, when it comes to taking care of children and making sure that children have access to the resources that they need to live and do better, that’s really what we’re focused on.”
