Bullying and harassment are longstanding issues at schools throughout Montgomery County, with racially-motivated discrimination being “prevalent throughout MCPS,” according to the Anti-Racist System Audit. (Bethesda Magazine) As a result, board members and school administrators have put measures in place in efforts to prevent these acts of hate. These measures include the Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation Reporting Form, where students can report unwanted behavior that occurred on school property, and the collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League’s “No Place For Hate” initiative to promote inclusive school environments.
Despite these efforts, acts of intimidation continue to be a prevalent concern for students and families. As a result, former Montgomery Blair High School students Anika Seth and Kathryn LaLonde began generating a call to action after examining multiple sexual assault testimonies through social media. They realized that the majority of students never officially communicated the incidents to MCPS.
Seth and LaLonde collaborated with Montgomery County board member Lynne Harris to develop an app where students can quickly and safely report incidents of harassment directly to the Office of Student Welfare and Compliance. County board members engaged with the MCPS community over the pandemic to gain insight into services they would like the app to provide.
“[We wanted] to make it possible for any student who experiences any form of sexual assault, harassment, violence to report it … and we’re going to empower them to do that with a tool that makes it feel safe and appropriate for them,” Harris said. (WTOP)
In addition to the reporting feature, students have the ability to access various information regarding mental health services and crisis management resources such as suicide prevention lifelines, The Trevor Project, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Many students find the idea of the app to be highly necessary and advantageous. “I think the app offers a good alternative to other methods of reporting incidents because students have the ability to make it anonymous,” Richard Montgomery High School junior Dorothy Dang said. “Some students might not feel comfortable going to their counselor and revealing their identity in situations like these.”
On the contrary, not all students find the idea of the app to be beneficial. “It sounds really repetitive to some of the other procedures already in place,” Richard Montgomery junior Ashna Uprety said. “Telling a trusted adult at school seems to be a much more beneficial strategy.”
To help fund and support their work, MCPS granted the team of developers a stipend of $1,000. This amount was allocated towards paying for a translation service in other languages and obtaining their Apple license.
An essential goal for the developers was to ensure the app was completely anonymous and possessed strong security. If a student chooses not to input their name and data, the tool does not store any potentially identifying information. Despite those who have voiced concerns regarding the app’s security, Pete Cevenini, a former MCPS chief technology officer, assured them that the app serves merely as a “passthrough” to applicable resources.
“It acts as a repository for important things students may need for mental wellness, but it doesn’t store anything,” Cevenini said. “Students can access the resources they need without compromising any safety.” (Bethesda Magazine)
Currently, the team has received the green light for the app’s near-future release through preapproval from the Apple Store. The producers are excited to introduce the app to MCPS students of all ages and plan to spread the word through Canvas announcements.
Written by Ellie Noh of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo courtesy of Kiana Hajikarimloo of Northwest High School