It’s Say Something week! This week over 1,000 schools and youth organizations are participating in Sandy Hook Promise’s violence prevention program that takes preventive measures by helping students recognize the signs of potentially violent or at-risk behavior in their peers, particularly on social media, and to act immediately by saying something to a trusted adult.
This year, participation in Say Something Week has more than doubled and hundreds of thousands of students in grades 6-12 nationwide will learn how to recognize the warning signs of violence and self-harm including bullying; depression; eating disorders; and substance, physical, or sexual abuse; and learn how to share any observed signs with a trusted adult. Through Say Something, every student is empowered to help others and their community, becoming upstanders rather than bystanders.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians formed a partnership with Sandy Hook Promise in spring 2015, along with other members of the Ohio Coalition of Primary Care Physicians, to spread the word in Ohio.
On September 23, Sandy Hook Promise leaders came to Ohio to deliver the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP). Over 300 primary care physicians learned about the programs of Sandy Hook Promise. Physician associations and Sandy Hook representatives met privately with central Ohio school administrators, principals, and teachers about incorporating the Say Something and the Just Say Hello programs into their school curriculums.
Following the keynote, 25 family medicine interest group (FMIG) leaders from six of Ohio’s medical school campuses (allopathic and osteopathic) met for leadership training that included information on how Say Something could be conducted as a FMIG community service project. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Ohio Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, the Ohio AAP, the OAFP, and the OAFP Foundation, 300-plus people heard about Sandy Hook Promise programs.
Learn more about Sandy Hook Promise and Say Something week.