OXFORD, MS — June 13, 2007 — AnComm, leading provider of anonymous messaging and communication solutions to the education market, today announced the results of a nationwide annual report that reveals the top ten list of problems facing U.S. upper elementary, middle and high school students. Spanning the most recent 2006-2007 school year, AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ Incident Report encompasses aggregated usage data from more than 54,000 students enrolled in 52 U.S. schools across 8 states who have access to AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service.
The report’s findings detail the frequency and types of incidents students submitted anonymously during the school year through AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ online reporting service. Currently in use by more than 84 schools across the country, AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service gives students a web-based portal to communicate their troubles to counselors and administrators, thereby breaking the powerful ‘code of silence’ through anonymous communication. The ‘code of silence’ is a pervasive sense among students that telling an adult that they or another student are in pain violates an unwritten, but powerful principle.
Key Findings Reveal:
- Stress, bullying and depression ranked one, two and three respectively in a list of incidents as reported by elementary, middle and high school students.
- 5,992 total incidents were reported by students ranging from the most common ? stress, bullying and depression ? to other significant types of problems, including: family problems, fighting, peer pressure, drugs, cheating, cutting/self-injury, suicide, pregnancy, eating disorders, alcohol usage, dropping out, threats and weapons.
- Eight out of 10 students are more likely to reach out and communicate problems with administrators, counselors and law enforcement in schools using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service.
Top Ten Problems as Reported By U.S. Students*
| Incident Type |
Number
of Incidents |
Percentage
of Total Incidents Reported |
| 1. Stress |
910 |
15% |
| 2. Bullying |
588 |
10% |
| 3. Depression |
452 |
8% |
| 4. Family Problems |
257 |
4% |
| 5. Fighting |
216 |
4% |
| 6. Peer Pressure |
185 |
3% |
| 7. Drugs |
140 |
2% |
| 8. Cheating on Schoolwork |
116 |
2% |
| 9. Cutting/Self-Injury |
108 |
2% |
| 10. Suicide |
107 |
2% |
*As reported by students enrolled in schools using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service. The annual AnComm ‘Talk About It®’ Report sample includes more than 70,000 students enrolled in 52 schools across 12 states.
“Information is the first line of crisis prevention. AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service gives students a voice they’re comfortable using ? the Internet ? to notify school administrators about the serious problems students are facing whereas in most schools these potential threats and issues go unreported and unresolved,” said Carter Myers, President, AnComm. “With more than 84 schools and 70,000 children using the ‘Talk About It®’ online reporting service each and every day, AnComm has clearly established market leadership in helping school administrators and systems deal constructively with the threat of school violence and improving the safety of our nation’s schools.”
AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ Service Key Stats**
| U.S. Schools Using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ Service: |
84 |
| Students Using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ Service: |
70,000 |
| Total Number of Student Sessions or Log-Ins: |
33,388 |
| Total Number of Incidents Reported: |
5,992 |
| Number of States Using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ Service: |
12 |
| States Using AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ |
Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming and Virginia. |
**As of school year ending 6/4/2007.
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. |
