December 6, 2023
This article was originally featured here.
Lufkin ISD launches new reporting tool for student safety
LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - A Region 12 grant has brought STOPit by STOPit Solutions to Lufkin ISD.
The online tool gives parents and students an anonymous approach to report bullying directly to school administration.
“We had an older system, and it was meeting our needs, but this is a much better user-friendly program that we now have access to, and it comes with immediate alerts,” says Lufkin ISD Executive Director of Student Services and Federal Programs.
User friendly for both the person making the report, and the school district.
Through an app and website, it allows picture and video submission.
Those immediate alerts streamline the complaints directly to the campus needing to see them the most.
It also compiles reports and response actions for documentation.
According to TexasAntiBullyingCoalition.com, 90 percent of teens who’ve been cyberbullied have also been bullied offline, but 64 percent of them did not report it.
“Often times they come to me to report something, but they don’t want me to say anything necessarily about it and so my hope is that since it’s anonymous that students will be more willing to take that initiative to report situations,” says Lufkin High School Senior Counselor Autumn McDaniel.
Having an app makes it more accessible to students and parents, according to Tierney.
“So, you start out by going to the Lufkin ISD website LufkinISD.org, then you go to ‘parents and students’ at the top and you click there,” says Tierney.
From there you can select ‘See Something Say Something’, or ‘Bullying Prevention’ to get to the STOPit tool. After following the instructions on screen, a report is sent to school administration for review.
“I just want to say if there are threats out there that our school needs to know about; complete that report so that we can help our kids,” says Tierney.
STOPit also educates students and parents to recognize bullying, and to take every sign seriously.
Lufkin ISD Executive Director of Student Services & Federal Programs explains what the STOPIT by Stopit Solutions online reporting tool does for the district.
