SMS Weblogs / Textually / 2005 / 02 / 18

Text Someone - about being bullied

Bullying, a recurring issue in school playgrounds.

BBC has an article today on how UK schools are increasingly spending large sums of money on software designed to help combat such issues.

"Text Someone is the latest service from Truancy Call, one of several systems on the market, which offers pupils the chance to beat the bullies via a technology they are all familiar with - the text message.

"Incidents of bullying can be reported at any time of day or night via text message, e-mail or voice message.

The statistics bear out the need for action in this area. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 children take their own lives each year as a result of being bullied."

Documented reports of several tragic incidents;

-- Text message torment ends in tragedy Helen Algar believes her teenage son died after being on the receiving end of a silent but potent form of bullying - text messaging.

-- A previous tragc incidence occured in Norway in 2001, where a young man committed suicide after receiving a threatening SMS saying: "You will die this year. We know where you live". He was suffering from a depression.

View original article