AG Healey highlights trainings at Mass. schools during Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something Week

  In recognition of students nationwide participating in Say Something Week, an initiative led by the national nonprofit organization Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Attorney General Maura Healey is highlighting schools across Massachusetts that have had training to recognize the warning signs of those who might be at risk of harming themselves or others, and how to get help. Say Somethingis a violence-prevention program from SHP that teaches students the warning signs of potential violence and self-harm and to tell a trusted adult. The research-informed program has been proven to have prevented multiple school shootings, hundreds of youth suicides and countless acts of violence.

  Through the $1 million federal STOP School Violence Act grant, the Attorney General’s Office brought the Say Something program to middle and high schools across the state. To date, more than 45,000 students have received the training, and 100 schools have participated, with the participation rates to increase as the program continues.

  “Alongside key partners like Sandy Hook Promise and with the resources from our STOP School Violence Act grant, we’ve worked over the past four years to help Massachusetts students learn and grow in environments without violence,” said Healey. “The mental health training, suicide prevention, and school-based violence prevention programs made possible by the grant continue to teach our students about effective strategies to promote mental health and prevent violence in our schools and communities.”

  Students across Massachusetts are participating in Say Something Week, a national call-to-action campaign during which students create fun and exciting school-wide activities that reinforce the warning signs and celebrate student “upstanders” who look out for one another to keep schools safe.

  “Sandy Hook Promise has been honored to work with Attorney General Maura Healey and her team to bring these life-saving programs to middle and high school students across the state,” said Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund Cofounder/CEO Mark Barden, the father of Daniel, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. “Students are often the first ones to see the warning signs or outright threats of violence, especially through social media. By empowering Massachusetts students with knowledge of the warning signs and how to speak up when seeing them, young lives are being saved every day, and students are getting the help they need.”

  Since 2018 the Massachusetts STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training grant has supported SHP trainings and events at more than 200 schools throughout the state. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office was awarded funding for this program through the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance’s School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program, which provides funding to implement training and education on preventing violence and effectively responding to related mental health crises.

  If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call one of the 24-hour crisis hotline numbers below right away:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL): 1-800-273-8255. NSPL is available 24/7 via phone and chat and has a dial prompt for the Veterans Crisis Line as well as a Spanish line.
• Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386 | text 678-678. Services are available 24/7/365, nationwide, and are 100 percent free and confidential. Options to text or chat online are also available.