Roughly 50 percent of school-age kids are teased at some point every school year, according to No Bullying, a non-profit advocating against the act. The evolution of the Internet and cell phones has made it easier for classmates to attack one another, but the Boston Public Schools district is making it easier to crack down on this issue as well.
As a way to kick off the 2013-2014 school year, which started on Wednesday, Boston's mayor Thomas Menino announced many new programs for students and parents to take advantage of, notably an anonymous, bullying text line. This phone number is designated to receive these complaints from anyone who wishes to report the incidents.
On average, teachers only see one in 25 bullying incidents, even though there's evidence it happens throughout the day.
Before the anonymous text messaging service, the school department had a hotline. Since the program started two years ago, interim school superintendent John McDonough said the separate phone line received more than 350 calls. McDonough expects even more success with the interactive texting service–especially because more children and young adults own a mobile device than ever before.
"We are ready for a strong start and a strong school year," McDonough told the source.
Boston Public Schools will be one of the first school districts in the United States to kickoff an SMS service like this. Other communities that wish to establish an anonymous text message line for tips like these can do so with Swift SMS Gateway.
