Let bullied report online, privately

My name is Kelsey Vasilakis and I am a senior at Conant High School. I am responding to The Daily Herald editorial, “Going online to combat bullying.”

The issue here is whether or not schools should have access to a place online where kids being bullied can report their bully. I agree and think that it's a great way for kids who might be too scared or don't have the courage to stand up to their bully or go to a teacher or adult.

It says in the article, “28 percent of 6th- to 12th-graders experienced bullying.” That's 28 percent more than what should be happening. In order to reduce that number, we need as many ways as possible for kids to report bullying. We have teachers, parents, friends, but some kids might be too embarrassed or feel if they tell anyone, the bully will find out and it'll make it worse.

Last year, I had a friend that was a freshman and she was being cyber bullied to the point that she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. She then went on Conant's website, where we can anonymously, or not, report our bully, and the issue will hopefully be looked at and analyzed. Within a month and a half, the problem had stopped and she hasn't had a problem with that kid since.

It states in the article, “We all know what bullying is. We all know it shouldn't be part of a child's school experience. Online reporting can add one more tool to help ensure it won't be.”

Now, this won't solve all our problems, because there are many cases in which the bully is not at the same school or grade. It won't diminish the number to zero, but it will sure do more good than bad.

Kelsey Vasilakis

Schaumburg