Date: 28 September 2026 · Status: Decided and built · lawyer's approval pending on the time limits and the no-parent rule
The problem
When a student wrote about hurting themselves, our moderators had two choices: let it through, or hold it back and show a helpline. Either way, the student stayed alone with it. A helpline number is the minimum, not a response. These are children, and the people best placed to help are the ones who can see them tomorrow morning.
What we decided
A moderator can refer the student to a named person at their school, usually the counsellor, who can check in with them in person.
- The moderator decides two things separately. First, whether the post is shown: Publish if it's safe (asking for help, a recovery story), Keep private if not. Keeping it private is never a strike. Second, whether someone at school should reach out.
- Two levels of urgency. Check in: the school responds within a school day. Urgent: the school responds within an hour, and the moderator phones the school first. If nobody answers and the student may be in danger, the moderator calls emergency services.
- Only named people receive it. Each school names one or two care contacts in its agreement with us. A teacher's job title at signup never qualifies.
- The counsellor sees what they need, and the email carries nothing sensitive. The email only says a student needs them. Once signed in, they see the student's name, what was written and why we're worried, and tell us what they did.
- Nothing falls through the cracks. If nobody picks it up in time, the school gets a reminder and it returns to our team as "phone the school". A school with no named contact is flagged straight away.
- The student is told, gently, that someone from school may check in and that they're not in trouble. The moderator can turn this off if telling them could put them at more risk.
- We never contact parents ourselves. The school knows whether home is safe; we don't. Whether and how the family is involved is the school's call.
Why this way
- A person, not a screen. The response to a child in distress is a trusted adult who can find them. The school already has that person and a safeguarding procedure. We connect to it rather than invent our own.
- Privacy held tight. One or two named people per school see it, nothing sensitive goes by email, and we see what the school did but never its private notes.
- No silent failures. Every referral runs against a time limit and comes back to us if it stalls.
- Honest with the student. Being told someone cares, and that they're not in trouble, builds the trust that makes them reach out next time.
Still to settle
- A lawyer's approval of the time limits (1 hour urgent, 24 hours check-in) and the no-parent rule.
- A referral clause in each school agreement, the named contacts, and a phone number for urgent calls.
- Out-of-hours cover for urgent referrals at night and at weekends.
- The page guardians see before they give permission must say we tell the school counsellor if we believe their child is at risk.
Now starting on parental consent. First I'm reading the research record, the current guide, and the consent code as it stands.