We’re glad to learn that the South Butler School District has taken steps to make it easier for students to report suspicious behavior as a means to keep schools safe.

Earlier this year, the state’s attorney general launched Safe2Say Something, a school safety reporting system that enables students, teachers and parents to submit tips regarding potentially dangerous school-related situations to a crisis center using a smart phone application, phone number or website.

The center then screens the reports and sends information to relevant schools and emergency dispatchers. Reports can cover everything from bullying and substance abuse to social isolation and self-harm.

South Butler has added a quick link Safe2Say button to the top right-hand corner of all the pages on its website. By clicking on it, students can submit a report and view a list of the various topics that are worthy of reporting. We think this is a good idea and believe that the easier the district makes for it for students to submit a report, the better.

It’s also good to hear that students in grades six through 12 in the district have been trained on how and when to use the tip line, and that the school has been placing posters throughout school buildings that include information on Safe2Say.

We agree with Jenny Webb, communications manager for South Butler, who wrote in an email that “when a child is already distressed about a situation and is feeling compelled to report it, finding the place to report it should be as simple as possible.”

Although it opens the possibility of the occasional submission of a false report, we think it’s a good idea that students can use the system anonymously. Some students with valid concerns regarding a possibly dangerous school situation might be deterred from reporting it if they believe their name will be attached to it.

When it comes to our schools, we can never be too safe. Earlier this year, local parents were rightfully unsettled after an incident in which a Knoch High School student was arrested following the discovery of a Snapchat video in which he is seen firing an AK-style weapon with the caption “Training for prom walk.”

During Safe2Say’s first month, the system received more than 4,900 tips, of which about one-third were deemed serious enough to pass along to authorities. The high volume of tips justifies the system’s existence.

We believe that Safe2Say is a highly valuable addition to our local school districts, and we’re glad that South Butler has made the system easy to use for its students.