Mississippi Schools Use Online Reporting System To Help Curb Violence
As school systems across the country grapple with new strategies for improving safety and security, administrators and counselors should look to an innovative program piloted this year in Mississippi for answers in quelling the likelihood of school violence. Using an intriguing combination of online messaging technology -- so pervasive with today's i-generation -- and anonymous communications, Mississippi school administrators believe they have found a breakthrough to fostering safer, more comfortable learning environments.
The concept is this -- rather than focusing solely on hardening school infrastructures with the installation of security cameras and metal detectors or making long-term investments to bolster mental health services, Mississippi school officials have instead focused on improving the frequency and flow of communications between students and faculty. And based on new data representing the most recent school year ending May 25, the decision has paid immediate dividends.
"We believe that the fastest way to improve the safety of our schools is to improve communication between faculty and students," said Dr. John G. Ladner, superintendent of the Pearl Public School District. "Based on the results of our pilot, we will continue to put anonymous communications at the core of our security strategy and plans."
The 'Talk About It' anonymous online messaging program was introduced to 12,470 students enrolled across the state of Mississippi at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. During this period, students at the 19 middle and high schools reported more than 3,000 incidents to school officials ranging from bullying and threats of violence to cheating, drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, problems with teachers, depression/stress, abuse at home, cutting or self-mutilation, sexual harassment and date rape. At one school, a suicide was prevented as a result of an incident report logged by a troubled student. School officials say that in prior years these issues would have gone unreported and students would have had no outlet for reaching out to counselors who could help or provide intervention.
"No one knows better about what is happening inside their own school than the students themselves," said Michael Hogan, principal of Petal Middle School. "If we could build a bridge with anonymous communications, the likelihood of children turning to violent measures could be dramatically impacted."
Developed by AnComm, a company with offices in Oxford, Miss. and Houston, the 'Talk About It' anonymous online messaging program empowers administrators with insights and information from students so that they can take proactive steps to communicate, intervene and resolve school violence before it occurs. What makes the program work say school officials is it combines new online messaging technology so popular with today's generation of school children with the practice of anonymous communications. Through a simple, intuitively designed online messaging center, students can log in to their school's personalized 'Talk About It' home page and send messages to faculty anytime from any Web-connected computer, PDA or wireless device.