Parents

Why ADVOCATR™?

Students' physical and emotional safety is a fundamental concern of your child's school. Safety can be promoted by encouraging positive acts of respect, friendliness, and thoughtfulness. And threats to safety can be prevented by reporting and preventing hurtful or dangerous acts.

Here is where ADVOCATR™ comes in. ADVOCATR™ is a tool that your student can use to communicate confidentially with trusted adults at school about threats to safety, and about positive activities as well. When safety is concerned, communication helps adults resolve situations before they get worse.

In any school environment, students are more knowledgeable than adults about problems among students. Students know about tensions, conflicts, motives, and consequences in peer-group interactions. For example, a report from the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center examined 37 school attacks between 1994 and 2000. This analysis showed that in 31 of the cases, the attackers shared their plans with other students before carrying them out.

ADVOCATR™ is part of the SOARS school safety framework. If you want to learn more about the SOARS school safety framework and how it can benefit your student, follow these Did you know links:

Did you know…

• …that students can feel unsafe in a safe school?
• …that students learn more when they feel safe?
• …that advocacy and self-advocacy are important skills?
• …that restorative practices can promote students' sense of fairness?

If you are interested in how your child can use ADVOCTR™ to increase physical and emotional safety and the overall climate of their school click here.