Six schools in Utah have launched a new Web site that gives students a platform to anonymously report information about drugs, theft, bullying and other forms of harassment.
Justin Bergener, a student at Brigham Young University, created the SchoolTipLine Web site. He hopes that students who might be otherwise too intimidated or shy to speak up will be willing to anonymously post their complaints online.
“There really is this culture and code of silence that’s particularly prevalent in middle schools and high schools,” Bergener told the Associated Press on Monday.
“It allows students to have an outlet and avenue to report things they might otherwise not have reported,” Rosanna Ungerman, principal of Provo’s Dixon Middle School, told the AP, adding that some students may not want to be seen talking to school authorities.
So far, nearly 50 schools in other states are also using the Web site. The six Utah schools include elementary, middle and high schools.
Students wishing to report an incident on SchoolTipLine must first send an e-mail or text message tip to school administrators, said Bergener. Some schools require students to create a logon and password before sending a tip, however the students remain anonymous. In most cases a tip can be sent without students having to provide any personal information.
“They’d rather have 10 good ones and one false one than none at all,” Bergener told the AP.
Bergener said his Web site simply acts as a third party that passes tips along. The site, which has participating schools in California, Arizona, Texas and Washington, does not read or reply to the tips, but if a tip goes unread for a day or so, it will remind the school that it’s there.
Some parents have even started reporting incidents to the site, according to Lehi Junior High’s assistant principal Judy Runolfson.
“There’s a greater awareness that it’s a situation that needs to be looked into right away because we know it can lead from something that’s not that bad to something much worse,” she told the AP.
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