LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GoGuardian Beacon is trusted by more than 51,000 educators to support millions of students nationwide, enabling early intervention and safety alerts when a student may be at risk of self-harm, suicide, or potential harm to others. As the nation observes National Suicide Prevention Month, GoGuardian is spotlighting new enhancements to GoGuardian Beacon, released this summer, to ensure schools entered the 2025–26 school year prepared and proactive in protecting student well-being.
Over half of public schools report insufficient mental health staff or funding, despite 58% of schools noting a rise in students seeking mental health support. The way students engage online is changing rapidly, and the risks tied to those digital behaviors continue to grow. To meet these challenges, GoGuardian launched two major updates ahead of the school year:
- AI chat site visibility for self-harm: With the explosive rise of AI chat platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Talkie-AI, students increasingly turn to these spaces for answers, advice, or to express distress. GoGuardian Beacon now provides visibility into these interactions, detecting nuanced signals of self-harm or harm to others through advanced natural language processing and surfacing immediate alerts that empower schools to intervene with speed and context.
- Enhanced threat and violence detection in search: The upgraded model, trained on even more expansive datasets, delivers sharper, more precise identification of concerning language in student search queries. Advanced algorithms reduce false positives, ensuring safety teams receive only the most relevant alerts for fast, proactive intervention.
“The updates we introduced this summer were designed to give districts a head start on the new school year,” said Brian Larkin, Director of Product Management at GoGuardian. “Now, during Suicide Prevention Month, we’re reminded why that preparation is so critical. Student safety can’t wait. Schools need tools that evolve as fast as student behavior does, and Beacon helps them stay one step ahead.”
These enhancements build on GoGuardian Beacon’s proven track record of helping save lives.
- A recent study found that youth suicide rates were 26% lower in counties actively using Beacon from 2021 to 2022, even after accounting for demographic and regional differences.1
- Since March 2020, Beacon has prevented an estimated 18,623 students from physical harm.2
Districts are seeing the difference. In Missouri, the Neosho School District—once facing youth suicide rates 30 times higher than the national average—reported zero deaths by suicide in four years after implementing GoGuardian Beacon alongside community initiatives aimed at addressing the baseline physical and emotional needs of students.
“Student mental health is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Too many young people are carrying heavy burdens in silence, and schools are often the first line of support,” said Rich Preece, CEO at GoGuardian. “Every child deserves the chance to be safe, seen, and supported. That belief is what drives us to stand alongside educators and communities in protecting the students we serve, because their lives and futures matter.”
GoGuardian is also now offering a free 90-day trial of GoGuardian Beacon so schools can evaluate the solution’s impact firsthand at no upfront cost.3 This trial opportunity ensures schools can act quickly while determining how GoGuardian Beacon fits within their broader safety and wellness programs.
For more information about GoGuardian Beacon or the free trial program visit goguardian.com/beacon.
Footnotes
¹ Source: “Association Between Student Suicide Risk and GoGuardian Beacon Alerts” (medRxiv, April 2025 preprint)
² From March 2020 to July 2024, Beacon alerts notified schools and districts of 18,623 students at risk of harm.
3 Terms and conditions apply.
About GoGuardian
With over a decade of experience, including pioneering the use of AI in K-12 education, GoGuardian delivers best-in-class solutions built with educators, not just for them. Our suite of products, powered by purpose-driven, customizable AI and actionable insights, enables what matters most: safer schools, empowered teachers, and thriving students. Trusted by over 2 million educators and more than 10,000 schools, GoGuardian supports 25 million students nationwide—representing 50% of all public and private K–12 learners in the U.S.
GoGuardian’s curriculum and instruction suite, Pear Deck Learning, is the only platform that offers teachers support for every instructional step in any topic—all in one place. From lesson planning to state testing, Pear Deck Learning helps teachers deliver engaging instruction, personalized learning tailored to each student’s needs, and meaningful assessment all with ease.
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