Administrators at six San Diego schools are relying on their students to report suspicious or threatening activity on campus. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
The Safe School Ambassador Program encourages administrators to pick 40 students to be the eyes and ears of the campus. Their job is to report on bullying, fighting or threats of violence. School officials say young people tend to know about this kind of activity before adults do. District spokesman Agin Shaeed says this program seeks to prevent a tragedy like that at Virginia Tech.
Shaeed : The element of surprise was everything. Sometimes just shining the light on a situation, the fact that people do know ahead of time, makes the person then say ‘wow, I'm being watched like neighborhood watch.’
Shaheed says some of the so-called ambassadors are proven school leaders, while others are just well-liked and popular. A recent federal study finds prior to violent acts on campus, other people knew about the attacker's ideas or plan and that many school shooters felt bullied themselves.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
