Over Christmas break, Wood County Schools released the See Something, Send Something app. The program was automatically downloaded onto the iPad of every student in the county, with the goal of increasing safety in schools. It can also be downloaded on phones and personal devices. PHS students and teachers watched an informational video about the app during advisory the week of Jan. 2.

See Something, Send Something allows students to directly report threats to the West Virginia Fusion Center, an organization that law enforcement works with to gather information about criminal activity  by having them submit a report of the incident through the app. It will then be sent to the local police department. The program is designed to protect the privacy of students. It  does require them to input their phone number, school, and state when starting an account, but when a tip is submitted it is kept confidential. To best use the app, students should allow it to access their location. To use it, a student is asked to provide as detailed of a description about the situation as they can. They have the option to take a picture, or use a picture from their existing camera roll. Additionally, there is an option to submit a tip anonymously. The app also features an alert tab, which will let you see any alerts for the area.

“I think it could be useful in some situations as long as people use it correctly,” said sophomore Peyton Louden.

The program is not an emergency response. If there is ever a situation where students need emergency response, they should call 911. Big Reds also have the option to continue to use the QR codes that are posted throughout the building. They connect directly to the administrators in the building, so they will have a quicker response time. Both of these resources should be used only for real situations and threats.

“Please use this app responsibly. Law enforcement needs us to do our part to keep our schools safe. Together we can keep Wood County safe and keep our focus on learning and building friendships that can last a lifetime,” said superintendent of Wood County Schools Christie Willis in the app’s training video.