DENVER — As Colorado students returned to classrooms this fall, Safe2Tell received more than 1,500 reports in August involving concerns ranging from bullying and mental health struggles to threats and AI-generated harassment.
According to the latest Safe2Tell report, school safety concerns made up the largest category of reports in August, followed by mental health concerns and bullying.
Attorney General Phil Weiser told Denver7 the increase reflects the kinds of concerns schools see each year as students head back to class.
“We know, and we see it every year, how much harm, how much threatened harm happens in the schools, and our job with Safe2Tell is to get out front,” Weiser told Denver7 anchor Jaclyn Allen.
The August report included a case involving an AI-generated explicit image of a student that was shared among classmates.
“AI makes it so easy to take somebody’s likeness and generate images that can be explicit, images that can be harmful and create whether it’s a bullying effect or other negative impacts,” Weiser said.
Weiser said schools and parents are now confronting how quickly artificial intelligence is changing bullying and harassment among students.
“We’re now starting to see what AI can do in so many realms, including creating more opportunities to bully or to harm,” he said. “This is a real challenge because we need to make sure students are told not to do this, and other students need to be on the lookout. It might not be real; it might be AI.”
The report also included a case involving a student accused of making threats against another student before later saying it was a joke.
“It’s not okay to joke about violence. It’s not okay to joke about threatening to shoot up a school,” Weiser said. “Any time someone is saying something of that level of threat, it needs to be investigated, taken seriously.”
Safe2Tell was created after the Columbine shooting as an anonymous reporting system focused on threats and school violence prevention.
But Weiser said the system is increasingly being used to identify students struggling with mental health crises as well.
“Safe2Tell can actually save lives, not just from violence at school, but from harms from mental health as well,” he said.
According to the report, nearly 98% of reports during the current school year were considered valid, while false reports remained low.
The most common outcomes after reports included parents being notified, students receiving counseling, and welfare checks conducted by schools or law enforcement.
Weiser also acknowledged concerns about whether schools have enough resources to respond to the growing number of mental health-related reports.
“We have a youth mental health crisis,” he said. “Too few schools have the mental health resources that they need.”
Safe2Tell allows people to anonymously report concerns about student safety and well-being through its website, app, hotline or text line 24 hours a day.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
