Given the recent UCLA report on young people’s reticence in reporting cyberbullying (see this), this is an interesting concept: a Web site that allows students to report said anonymously. So far the Utah-Based site, SchoolTipline.com, is being used by “six Utah schools and 48 schools in other states,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The only concern is that the site could also be abused. Given also what we know of how kids have been known to abuse abuse-reporting in kid virtual worlds (see “Top 8 workarounds of kid virtual-world users”). An apparent protection against this possibility is that the tips go right to administrators of the schools that have signed on. One administrator told the Tribune she’s received 20 reports so far this year, one of which was false. “Often [the administrators] respond to the anonymous student online and ask for more details. Sometimes they can persuade the student to come forward and work with them. At the very least, if the student doesn’t want to be identified, school officials can question the alleged bully or keep an eye on the situation.” Hmm, the thought occurs: what impact would age verification of minors have on this process?
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