Speak Out Now in the Times Educational Supplement

"Next week marks Anti-Bullying Week. Nick Morrison looks at how technology is being used to counter problems in schools."

It’s been a long time since sticks and stones were all that bullies had at their disposal, but recent years have seen their arsenal expand at a dizzying rate. Texting, instant messaging and social networking not only bring us closer together, they’re also weapons in the hands of those with malice in mind. But just as bullies are harnessing the power of technology, so can these tools be deployed to help protect the victims and catch the perpetrators

Dedicated phone lines and email boxes, where victims and witnesses can report incidents to staff, are now widespread in schools, but prevention and detection methods are becoming more sophisticated as the potential offered by new technology is more fully explored.

Schools are also looking at increasingly advanced systems for reporting bullying. One such is Speak Out Now, a package that gives children the chance to say what action they want teachers to take, without the fear that every report is going to be escalated into a major incident.  

Pupils logging on are taken through a series of steps asking them to identify the victim, perpetrator, any witnesses and the type of bullying, as well as which member of staff they want to handle it.

Crucially they are also asked how they want the incident dealt with: whether they just want teachers to keep an eye on it or whether they believe some intervention is necessary. The software can also prioritise incidents, depending on what words the pupil has used to describe them, so bullying involving hitting, for example, can be flagged up as requiring urgent action.

The Matthew Arnold School in Staines, Middlesex, introduced the system for its Year 7s last year, and this year extended it to the whole school. Pastoral staff get about 10 to 15 messages a week, says Monica Lynch, assistant head, although many are requests just to monitor what is going on.

“By saying ‘keep an eye on it’ they might just be getting it off their chests,” says Monica. “They might later request a different action, but it is that initial telling someone that is often the biggest step.”

The pattern of reports reflects teachers’ experience of previous systems: most incidents are of name-calling, either in person or through texts and the internet, particularly Bebo and MySpace sites.

But one advantage of this approach is that it provides a permanent record. One persistent bully at Matthew Arnold who had managed to evade punishment was finally given a long-term exclusion as a result of evidence gathered through the site.

Primary schools have also adopted the system. Online reporting means pupils can file reports from home, and feel less exposed than if they had to put cards in a box, says jackie Pick, assistant head at Leesland juniors, in Gosport, Hampshire.

Leesland introduced the system in September last year and in its first year it brought to light a previously unknown incident of cyber bullying. A total of 16 pupils were found to be involved in name-calling and threats, mainly through instant messaging on MSN but also via texts and emails. “We can’t deal with it if we don’t know about it,” says Jackie.

She says many of the incidents are relatively low-level, such as fallings-out in the playground. “Often the children say they don’t want us to do anything, they just want us to know," she adds. “It’s also preventative: if you know someone is going to tell you might not do something."

Technology may have opened up new possibilities for bullies, but it has also given impetus to efforts to stop bullying. And the difference with technology is that, unlike name-calling and even sticks and stones, there is usually a trace left behind.

“For every negative of new technology there is always a positive,” says Andrew Field at The Matthew Arnold School. “In a playground it is just you versus them, but if ever anything happens on a computer it is recorded."