For Immediate Release
September 29, 2015
Contact: Laurie Zywiczynski, Director of Community Relations, (269) 792-2281 ext. 2811
Wayland Union Schools, MI – Wayland Union Schools will host a community seminar to provide information about the OK2SAY program. OK2SAY is a program designed to empower Michigan students, parents, school personnel, community mental health service programs, and law enforcement to share and respond to student safety threats.
The community seminar provides practical tools including internet safety tips and how to: 1) access the Michigan Sex Offender Registry; 2) understand the impact of digital footprints; 3) appreciate the risk of sharing photos with embedded location information; 4) recognize the potential dangers and legal ramification of sexting; and 5) identify cyberbullying warning signs and develop a plan of action. This presentation will also cover what the students see in their respective presentations, as well as what OK2SAY is, and how it works.
The goal of OK2SAY is to stop harmful behavior before it occurs by encouraging students to report threatening behavior to caring adult authorities who can help. Featuring a comprehensive communication system that facilitates tip submissions through telephone, text, website, e-mail, and multimedia technologies, OK2SAY enables Michigan residents to confidentially report student safety threats to trained program operators, who forward tips on to local law enforcement agencies, school officials, or community mental health service programs for a timely response.
The seminar is open to the public and will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 7pm in the Wayland Union Fine Arts Center. Light refreshments and child care will be provided.
Presentations about OK2SAY will also be held for students in each school in October. Contact/hotline information for the OK2SAY program is on the district website www.waylandunion.orgunder “Student Quick links.”
For more information about the OK2SAY program, visit www.michigan.gov/ok2say