For safer schools: ‘Speak Up Boxes’ rolled out in Soccsksargen

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato — Police in Soccsksargen (Region 12) have rolled out “Speak Up Boxes” in schools to give students, teachers, and other school personnel a way to report threats and suspicious activities without having to approach authorities in person.The initiative of the Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12) aims to encourage members of the school community to share information that could help prevent violence, including threats posted on social media that might otherwise go unreported.Maj. JS Pedrosa, South Cotabato Police Provincial Office (SCPPO community affairs and development unit officer, said the program was developed at the regional headquarters to encourage students, teachers, and school personnel to come forward without fear of being identified or targeted.

READ: PNP eyeing tougher measures, best practices on school safetySome may have information that could help prevent an incident but hesitate to report it because they do not know whom to approach or fear possible retaliation, Pedrosa said.He said the boxes have been distributed to primary, secondary, tertiary, and integrated schools in South Cotabato.Under the program, designated teachers check the boxes every afternoon and forward relevant information to the police for appropriate action.Pedrosa said the initiative also encourages students, teachers and school personnel to report threatening online posts and other information that could help authorities prevent violence.The boxes are part of broader police efforts to improve school safety. Police officers are deployed at schools during arrival, lunchtime, and dismissal.

Besides the boxes, police maintain group chats with school administrators and student councils to facilitate reporting of suspicious posts and other safety concerns. These channels allow school officials and student leaders to relay information to authorities more quickly.Pedrosa said students, teachers and school personnel were also being taught how to preserve online evidence when reporting threats on social media.

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Police advised those reporting threats to save screenshots of both the post and the account profile, along with the profile URL, user ID, and link to the specific post. These details could help investigators identify the correct account./coa