The anonymous reporting system, “Say Something,” was implemented across the entirety of Henderson County this week.

“Say Something” is a youth violence prevention program from Sandy Hook Promise (SHP). According to the program’s website, “Say Something” is a national nonprofit organization led by several families whose loved ones were killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

The Say Something app was recently implemented in the Henderson County school system to create a safer environment, by allowing students to submit a secure and anonymous report of any observations that may invoke safety concerns and to intervene upon at-risk individuals before they hurt themselves or others. 

“If a student needs to speak out about a concern, whether it’s about themselves or someone else, but they don’t know who to turn to, ‘Say Something’ is here,” School Superintendent Bo Caldwell said.

Although students said they acknowledge the positive motivation behind the app, they have also found some flaws.

“I feel like the app really won’t be used, and if it does get used it won’t be for any legitimate reason,” senior Gabe Brittain said. “If you were to gather every student’s phone at West, only a very small portion of them would actually have the ‘Say Something’ app downloaded. Also I think that if someone was in true danger, their first occurring thought wouldn’t be to report to some app.” 

Many students said they wouldn’t be able to use the app even if they wanted to with the implementation of the new phone policy. Students are allowed to use their phones only during class changes and lunch.

“The Say Something app is pretty counterintuitive, since we aren’t allowed to have access to our phones even if we wanted to report something,” junior Myles Bryant said.

By: Andrew Schuler, Feature Writer