Eleven months after a student hotline was set up at the Toronto District School Board, officials say it is proving to be a success.
Since it was established, 625 calls were placed to the hotline. Of those calls:
- 95 per cent were made during the school year
- 70 per cent came from elementary school students
- 50 per cent provided enough information for follow-up action
The online version of the hotline was less successful. So far only 10 reports have been filed but statistics show that the web option is mainly attracting high school students.
The hotline was created as a safe way for students to tell on their peers who are bullying, carrying a weapon or involved in dangerous activities. It was one of 126 recommendations made in a report that looked at school safety.
The latest statistics show that most of the calls were complaints about bullying but there were also reports of sexual harassment, physical confrontations, weapons and drugs.
The majority of calls were made by females.
Colin Fleming, the safe schools administrator, told CTV Toronto the hotline is working well.
"The turnaround time is very fast, so (there is a response) either within the same school day or the very next school day, of course Monday to Friday," he said. "I think everyone has been generally pleased."
The recommendation originally called for the creation of separate hotlines for individual schools. The report recommended that the hotline be staffed by students who would train for the task.
So far, the board has only created a centralized line for all schools.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon
