Safe Chat For Kids

Survey a new tool against bullying

A new online tool has given primary school pupils the chance to speak out and name their bullies.

About 330 Henley School pupils have just completed an online survey created by principal John Armstrong, aimed at actively targeting bullying.

The pupils logged on to a website and answered a 10-question survey, saying how safe they felt about coming to school, whether they felt they were ever verbally or physically abused, and if so, how often and where.

The online survey was accompanied by small group discussions with Mr Armstrong.

He said the new approach had worked well so far.

"I think we've got a pretty safe school here, but I just want to make it the best we can. I think if other schools took more of a pro-active approach they might be able to learn a bit more about their own school and some of the dynamics within it."

Results showed 97.3 per cent of pupils felt safe coming to school, which was good, but still left room for improvement, he said.

"Nine students answered no – that's something we've got to work on. That's nine children we've got to follow up on, and find out what's going on."

Pupils were also able to put down a name of someone who bullied them.

"I can then do a tally of the most occurring name. That comes through loud and clear," Mr Armstrong said.

Bullying, particularly cyber-bullying, has again been in the national spotlight recently, with high-profile cases in Hastings, the Bay of Plenty, and in Auckland.

In the North Shore's Rangitoto College, staff had to hold bullies back to let a girl escape from school.

In Hastings, the bullies filmed their attack on a cellphone.

Mr Armstrong said he hoped the new approach would help combat the trend.

"If a child feels that they've been bullied all the time, thankfully we don't have many of those, I can go back to their survey and find out who it is who is causing them grief. I can have a chat to the teacher, and put some strategies in around making things better for that kid."

Lower-level bullying such as name-calling could also be quite hard for kids, he said.

"The physical stuff you tend to hear about through mum or dad, they will come to the school and let you know that."

What was also worrying was how some children responded to bullying, he said.

"Six per cent, or 22 children, said that they do nothing. That's another thing we need to work on. If they are not doing anything about it, that's something we need to sort out, and teach them strategies.

Unique FBL-Facebook-like Social Networking Site Provides Safe Chat

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KidzRocket.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of BizRocket.com, Inc., is the newest in social networking websites called a FBL- Facebook-like for kids, but with parents also controlling the advanced KidzRocket WebFilter. An interactive, user-approved network of friends includes kid-friendly personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos with safe chat rooms for children with more fun stuff under development.

About KidzRocket.com

KidzRocket.com was invented to meet our national challenge to help protect children from Internet predators, cyberbullies, and various inappropriate contact. KidzRocket.com complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act - FTC (COPPA). KidzRocket.com is a subsidiary of BizRocket.com, Inc.

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