Getting in Ahead of Tragic Endings and Changing the Tattletale Mindset.

• Author: Godbehere, Gina

THE WORK OF A PROSECUTOR often starts at the conclusion of a tragedy. Right now that truth is most evident in Florida where prosecutors are looking at handling the worst school shooting in our country's history. However, for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, getting in front of school tragedies and trying to prevent them has become a mission.

A few years ago in Arizona, I found myself looking at the aftermath of a school shooting. I had been called to the scene as the Bureau Chief in the Community Based Prosecution Division. Two girls were dead on the campus of a high school, teen victims of a murder suicide. In the hours following the tragedy, there was a familiar feeling emerging... just like in countless other school tragedies, there had been numerous warning signs, only no one said anything or did anything. Our kid's aversions to being tattletales, talking to adults about a problem, or letting the hidden on social media come to light had caused a silence and inaction that cost two young girls lives.

I left the scene of that school shooting feeling compelled to create a solution. I wanted to create a way to help teens not only identify when someone is in a crisis, but empower them to know what to do with that information.

I took the idea to a leadership class I was involved in and connected with Pendergast School District Superintendent Dr. Lily Matos DeBlieux and Strategic Business expert, Jennifer Rogers with GCON Inc. We agreed that real change for this issue could be achieved for students here locally, but to have a true impact it needed to involve every sector from schools to law enforcement, to community resource partners and local leaders. Acknowledging that we may not be able to control all external factors that lead to shootings, suicides, depression, and bullying, we felt we could change the mindsets and attitudes of our youth.

With sponsorship from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office the women's planning eventually led to the Speak Up, Stand Up, Save A Life Youth Conference. The daylong conference brought in students from 6-12th grades from across Arizona and exposed them to speakers who gave a voice to the difficult issues the students face on a daily basis, both inside and outside of school. Students were then given training on how to increase their own ability to speak up and tell a "trusted adult" when they see behavior that could be harmful to another student.

"We asked students why they did not speak up and they...