OK2SAY tips drop for first time in 2019 - HollandSentinel.com

LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Michigan State Police announced the release of the 2019 annual report for the OK2SAY program on Friday, June 26.

OK2SAY is a student safety program launched in September 2014. The hotline is a prevention-based reporting mechanism tool students can use to report tips of potential suicides, bullying, violence, drug abuse and more.

"OK2SAY has done more than save lives, it's prevented violence and has ensured that Michigan students have a safe place to learn and grow," Nessel stated in a press release.

"OK2SAY has played an important role in helping students get the support they need, both in school and out in their communities."

As of early June, the program has logged more than 25,000 tips since its inception. In 2019, for the first time since the program began, there were fewer tips reported than the previous year.

For 2019, OK2SAY received 5,742 tips. This is down from 6,473 tips in 2018. While this is the first year-to-year decrease for OK2SAY, the number of tips in 2019 was the second highest in any one year.

In 2019, tips were received in 31 different categories. The most common were suicide threats (1,298 tips), bullying (1,001), drugs (624), "other," which includes anxiety, stress depression and harassment (401) and self-harm (368).

The categories of planned school attack and cyberbullying also surpassed 300 tips, with 341 and 307, respectively.

The five most common categories in 2019 are identical to those in both 2017 and 2018.

The annual report states tips led to an impact on school operations — such as a lockdown, cancellation or early dismissal — 14 times. There were 96 tips that involved the seizure of drugs or alcohol at schools and 50 that involved the confiscation of weapons at schools.

Although OK2SAY is available to students throughout the school year, the majority of tips are made while school is in session. The months with the highest tip totals in 2019 were October (807), November (799) and December (584).

Not surprisingly, June (235), July (119) and August (137) were the months with the fewest tips in 2019.

Tips for suicide threats peaked in March at 138. Each of the other most common tip categories peaked in October. OK2SAY received 188 bullying tips in October, the most tips in a single category for one month in 2019.

Reporting to OK2SAY is confidential and can be done in a number of ways. Those with tips can call 855-565-2729, text 652729, email ok2say@mi.gov, visit the OK2SAY website or report on the OK2SAY mobile app.

Joe Gasper, director of MSP, noted the hotline remains available to students despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"Students should know that even though they are not physically meeting in school buildings right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our OK2SAY technicians remain at work and stand ready to support students 24/7 in any way they can," he stated.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.