We’ve previously praised the state’s Safe2Say Something school reporting system on this page — and the program’s second annual report shows that it is providing an important service.

This week, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced his office had released a report on the system’s data that was tracked during the 2019-20 school year, which culminated in late June.

The system allows students, teachers and parents to submit tips regarding potentially dangerous school-related situations to a crisis center using a smartphone application, phone number or website. The center screens the reports and sends information to relevant schools and emergency dispatchers.

While the reports can provide tips about possibly violent situations at school — such as the threat of a school shooter — they also can be in regard to bullying, substance abuse, social isolation and self-harm.

Considering how the school year ended — with students at home and away from their teachers, friends and fellow students — social isolation has likely become a problem among some students.

Shapiro said when he visited schools across the state, one of the issues he heard most about was concern for pupils’ mental health.

The attorney general’s recent report found the top three most reported concerns were bullying (3,608 tips during the most recent school year), suicide or suicide ideation (2,576 tips) and self-harm (2,139 tips).

It’s easy to imagine that the second and third items have been exacerbated in recent months among students already suffering from them. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, Safe2Say reports showed that 17 percent of tips were related to those issues, but in the months after the shutdown they made up 37 percent of tips.

For many young people, the routine of being at school among their teachers and friends is important. Being forced out of that environment for several months has likely taken its toll on some, despite being at home with one’s family during the pandemic.

So, it’s good to know that a program like Safe2Say exists to allow parents, students and teachers to look out for others who are having a hard time due to self-isolation. It’s also great to see that system being utilized.

At this moment, any tool that helps to identify students facing crises beyond the pandemic itself is greatly needed. We hope Safe2Say continues to link young people who are struggling with the services they need.

— NCD