Bullying, teasing and hazing have taken on a new platform in today’s Internet-age.
Canyon Vista Middle School is trying to combat that, as the first Austin area school to try out a new anti-bullying system.
"Your reputation is everything. So, allowing these students to protect their reputation by reporting something anonymously I think means the world to them," seventh grade teacher Cassie Torres said.
An Internet software program called "Talk About It…" helps students feel comfortable reporting problems around school.
Students like Terisha Kolencherry said this program helps them feel more comfortable reporting their peers.
"You're just like, 'What is he going to do because I did that?' And you're scared," Kolencherry said. "But if I anonymously reported it then I wouldn't be so scared because I know that whoever I reported it is not going to find out that I was the one who reported it."
The principal of the school said the program harnesses the Internet to help fight Internet bullying.
"What we use to do just embarrasses me immensely. If we had bullying situations what did we do? We'd bring in the bully, we'd bring in the person who bullied them and we'd try to conflict mediate. How dumb is that?," Principal Barbara Paris said. "And who's gonna sit in front of the bully and say, 'Yeah, he's driving me crazy.' That takes a huge amount of courage."
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Internet Security
News 8's Jennifer Borget went to
the school to see what teachers and
students think about it.
 
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With the program, students can report a problem with or without recording their names. Online the students can select a category from depression to peer pressure—not everything has to deal with a fellow classmate. And there is a text messaging system as well which sometimes proves to be more useful.
"At school it's easier to use a computer but if you're on the bus and you hear about someone talking about a weapon that they're bringing to school you'll probably want to text cause you don't carry around a laptop," Kolencherry said.
Teachers and students together hope with programs like these they can stand up bullying, and put an end to school violence.
