OXFORD, Mississippi – With the Arkansas legislature considering a policy to crackdown on cyber bullying, for the first time Arkansas students will be able to anonymously report threats of intimidation and harassment to school personnel by simply using any computer with Internet access.
The Little Rock School District is the first in Arkansas to implement Talk About It, a new online reporting tool that allows students to anonymously communicate issues and engage in safe dialogue with their school personnel. Talk About It has been implemented successfully by school districts in southern, central and western U.S. states, but Little Rock marks its official entry into Arkansas.
Talk About It provides each student with a personal and confidential access code. Beginning in March students at the district’s Dunbar Magnet Middle School and Hall High School can use Talk About It to communicate threats of violence or personal problems to school personnel, who help to create positive connections with the students and safely resolve threats before tragedy strikes. In addition to serving as a conduit for students, Talk About It offers many reporting features, so that principals and other administrators can better assess problem areas in their schools.
“We know that students are the best source of information for what is happening in schools – the key is to create a forum where they feel safe to share that information,” said Carter Myers, president of AnComm, which developed Talk About It. “Today’s students prefer to communicate through familiar mediums – e-mail, instant messaging. Talk About It allows them to reach out through a comfortable, safe environment where they don’t have to be afraid that someone might see them making a report or seeking help for a problem.”
The product has already helped school officials in other states confiscate guns and other weapons, heading off the potential for violent attacks, Myers said. Talk About It, available for review at http://talkaboutit.ancomm.com, has also helped to prevent teen suicides, as troubled students reach out to faculty through the technology.
“By using Talk About It, the Little Rock schools will have a built-in system that allows for reporting, documenting and responding to violent threats,” Myers said. “At the same time, it protects victims from retaliation, which is a major reason bullying and violent behavior are not reported in the first place.”
“Students have reported a variety of issues through the system, including cyber-bullying, depression, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, family problems and cutting,” Myers said.
About AnComm
AnComm is a leading provider of anonymous messaging and communications solutions to the education market. Easy to implement and affordable, ‘‘Talk About It®’’ opens two-way lines of communication between students and school administrators. For students, ‘‘Talk About It’’ gives students a web-based tool to communicate their troubles, breaking the code of silence through anonymous communication. For schools, administrators and counselors are newly empowered with information so that they may take proactive steps to communicate, intervene and resolve school violence before it occurs.
AnComm was founded in 2005 and has offices in Houston, Texas and Oxford, Mississippi. To learn how your school or educational institution can benefit from AnComm’s ‘‘Talk About It’’ anonymous online and text based reporting service, visit our web sites at http://talkaboutit.ancomm.com or http://www.ancomm.com or call (866) 926-2666. |
