Houston, TX – December 14, 2005 – Houston’s premier high school has a new tool for students to anonymously report about topics of concern to selected staff members at Spring Branch Independent School District’s Memorial High School.
There is a pervasive sense among students that telling grownups that they or another student is in pain may violate an unwritten, but powerful “code of silence.” Therefore the AnComm service allows students to anonymously communicate with school administrators, via an encrypted web site, about topics of concern (bullying, violence, drugs, alcohol, suicide, weapons, etc.), thus opening two-way lines of communication in a safe environment. School administrators are alerted in real-time to new messages and then have an opportunity to respond, validate claims and provide the necessary next steps to help children feel safe and keep the learning environment secure. AnComm creates the important distinction for children between tattling and telling, ratting and reporting and, most importantly, gives the unreachable child a voice.
The software was developed for schools as a response to increasing media reports of tragic events occurring in America's schools. Beta testing began in James Bowie High School in Austin, Texas, in 2001. The students actively participated in developing and recreating the software to fit an educational environment. Within two weeks of implementing the program, an impending suicide was reported and prevented. To date seven suicides have been prevented by the use of the service.
Memorial High School’s 2,200 students will access the service from any computer with internet access. Each student will receive a designated user id and password that will be entered at https://memorialhigh.ancomm.com.Students will choose from a drop down list of customized topics, designated school staff recipients, and then compose a message. Staff member recipients are alerted in real-time about new messages and may compose a reply so that the dialogue can begin. Messages can go back and forth until the student indicates via an icon that resolution has occurred.
Memorial High School will be fully trained and supported through their use of the AnComm service by a designated Account Manager. Additionally, the Account Manager will provide detailed reports regarding the topics most reported about in each grade, the number of resolved and unresolved issues, as well overall usage reports for any period of use. Such reports will arm Memorial High School with the valuable data they need to implement highly targeted preventative programs and campaigns.
AnComm, Inc. is especially pleased to add Memorial High school as a customer based on its excellent reputation in the state of Texas. Further Memorial Middle school students also currently use the AnComm service which will allow for a seamless transition of users from the eight to ninth grade.
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. |
