DENVER — The Colroado Attorney General's Office released the April report for the Safe2Tell program, an anonymous hotline for students to report concerns.
3,177 calls came in, putting them on track to surpass 30,000 calls by the end of the school year, according to the state attorney general's office.
"The fact that we're seeing as many reports as we're seeing is both a positive accomplishment, that this program is scaled up with a level of awareness, with a level of usage, and it's a painful statement to make," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said.
It's a resource that won't go away when classes end. But what kids do lose, according to clinical psychologist Dr. Jody Thomas, is some of that structure.
"So we don't have the same pressures on homework, we don't the same pressures on perhaps exposure to bullies or whatnot in school. So we have less pressure on kids, which is great," Dr. Thomas said. "That said, we are also losing a lot of structure. We're losing access to trusted adults, and in cases of things like abuse or neglect, then we're losing the eyes of trusted adults who are keeping an eye on these kids."
The top concerns students report are threats around school safety, mental health harms and bullying, according to Weiser.
This summer, Dr. Thomas said addressing those concerns this summer can start with normalizing talking about mental health.
"We speak it aloud. What we're doing is we're giving them permission to think about it and talk about it and express how they're feeling," Dr. Thomas said.
She re-emphasized the helpful use of resources like the Colorado Crisis Line.
"Safe2Tell is a useful thing for being able to report it, but they are very clear that their conduit to resources not a resource in and of itself," Dr. Thomas said. "And so what can be helpful for parents and kids to know is how to access those resources directly. And so there are really a lot of wonderful resources available in the state of Colorado."
Dr. Thomas said crisis hotlines will connect you to state resources and with people trained in mental health response.
"Being able to ask a child, 'Do you think you can keep yourself safe right now?' is a really important question, and one that is it really elicits an important conversation, and then it really, then puts the burden where it should be, which is on the adult to figure out the course of action next," Dr. Thomas said.
She shared a list of things for parents to consider this summer to help their child's health. Some include — a good sleep schedule, getting outside and limiting screen time, having social connecting and connecting with family and keeping up with hobbies.
