By Lindsay Peyton

There’s no need to cry out for help. 

Seattle Public Schools recently launched a year-long pilot program to test a new tool aimed at mitigating online harassment, intimidation and bullying. 

This resource will benefit more than 40 middle and high schools campuses in the district -- including Ballard and West Seattle High School. 

iCanHelpline.org was founded by Anne Collier, who has been involved in youth security on the Internet in one form or another for the past two decades.

Collier served on three national task forces on the subject – and discovered that in other countries there are helplines that address online bullying.

“It became clear to me that we needed something like this in our country,” she said. 

Collier transformed her vision into a reality – building program to provide a toll-free phone and email helpline that can assist school administrators with social media, navigating apps and reporting abuse. 

She explained that online bullying is really a continuation of harassment that happens in real life. 

“It’s far from an epidemic, but it’s significant,” she said. “It’s a social problem we need to address.”

Collier said that most students do not like the negativity or drama – and want to be part of the solution. 

“They want to help when they see a person being harassed or harmed, but they don’t know how,” she said. 

That’s where iCanHelpline.org will step in. Students can report bullying to administrators who can then use the software. “It’s simple; we’re just a helpline,” Collier said. “Half of what we do is listen and educate. The other half is simply taking harmful content down.”

Because Collier and her team have relationships with social media platforms, they may be able to expedite the process of removing the material from the Internet. 

“We’re an important tool for schools,” she said. “We’re a missing piece – especially on the intervention side. There’s a lot on the prevention side. This empowers the schools. It’s custom support – because every incident is unique.”

In 2015, Collier began piloting the program in California statewide on a yearly subscription model to schools. 

After a year, she obtained a Google grant, which made it possible to share the program with Seattle Public Schools.

Darcy Northnagle, Google’s head of external affairs for the northwest, said the company has worked with Collier in other capacities for many years.  

“We know the great work that’s been happening,” she said. “We were familiar with her work.”

Northnagle said 92 percent of teens are online at some point of the day – and that a third of them have experience with bullying. 

“Schools are looking for positive ways to deal with that issue,” she said. 

She explained that the program fits well with Google’s national “Online Safety Roadshow” – a presentation that helps teens use the web safely and successfully. 

Northnagle said Google’s goal is to use various platforms to guide students with their social media use and interactions on the Internet. 

“A big part of that is being kind online,” she said. “We’re in an increasingly digital society. It’s important to teach kids to be safe and smart online – and to provide tools to schools that can help.”

Tina Meade, the school district’s student civil rights compliance officer, said the goal is to help students learn how to interact with each other with respect and civility.

The pilot program is part of an integrated district approach to keeping students safe from harassment, intimidation and bullying.

“We don’t know what the response will be,” Meade said. “It’s the first comprehensive service like this in the nation.”

After the trial, she plans to meet with Collier and assess the program. 

“This is a tool we want to use to support kids and families,” Meade said. “This is an area of concern and it’s a hard area to address, especially because much of it happens outside of school grounds and outside of school hours.”

In the past, Meade said law enforcement would usually be called in to deal with intervention. She believes that iCanHelpline.org could make a positive difference when dealing with conflicts. 

“It’s not an automatic resolution when you discipline,” she said. “How do we help our kids? How do we help our families talk to our kids about navigating this? We’re an educational organization, and we want to teach young people and their families how to interact with each other.”

Meade said the district is looking into all the resources that can help. 

“Technology changes at the blink of an eye,” she said. “Anne has an understanding of the tech community itself and can use those relationships to assist with our relationships with kids and their families.”

To read Collier’s blog, which contains a number of tips and information about online bullying, visit www.netfamilynews.org.