TEENS EMBRACING SITE TO MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER

A website intended to help make Surrey schools safer has resulted in
dozens of tips from teens and kids - most of whom have become fast
fans of the anonymous online resource.

"This site rocks," wrote one student.

"What I mean is it shows reality ... what's going on with Surrey and
with other schools. I really like the way you made me feel that I
have some place to go if something's not going right at school and
I'm not comfortable talking to the principal.

"I know now I will make more right choices."

Another youth comments: "Bullying has to stop - it's destroying
people's lives. I think this website's really going to help," while a
Grade 12 student says it's "really cool that you're showing other
kids and other students that people actually care about how us teens feel."

The feedback comes just six months after the PSST... Protecting
Surrey Schools Together website (www.psst-bc.ca) - developed in
partnership with the district and RCMP - was piloted.

In addition to movie reviews, articles, contests, and quizzes, the
site contains a link labelled 'Report It' where students can leave
details about a problem or incident, the school involved, and when it
happened or is expected to occur. During the pilot from April to
June, 48 tips were submitted via the website, 46 of them legitimate.
Stats from September and October are skewed because of the illegal
teachers' strike and because the site was initially billed as a
three-month pilot. Still, in those months, at least a dozen tips were received.

Those that fall under the criminal code (ie. involving drugs,
vandalism) are passed to police, while others are dealt with at the
school level by the principal.

A handful of the tips, safe school manager Theresa Campbell said,
have led to convictions. In fact, the first one led to three men who
had a significant quantity of drugs at a location near a school.

"I was amazed how quickly students started using the site, especially
in reporting dangerous or illegal activity," Campbell said. The site
has become a venue for students to seek support for themselves.

"Some have been asking for information about sensitive topics,"
Campbell said, "and we're able to get the appropriate professional to
help them out."

Mostly, she said the online resource has encouraged students to get
involved and be accountable for the safety of their school.

To promote the website, trailers about PSST... will be shown in
Surrey movie theatres and ads will be posted at bus shelters.