On Feb. 19, 2015, New Trier launched the Trevian Tip Line, an anonymous online forum for any student who wishes to report school related issues.
According to the website, the Tip Line was created for students who don’t feel comfortable due to hazing, bullying, harassment, or any other threatening circumstances. Students aren’t required to enter their name, e-mail address, or phone number.
This anonymous venue was also created in accordance with a recently passed law stating that all schools must have a reporting system for bullying, according to the administration.
For some schools, this can look like an email sent to a special section of administration, a text sent to social workers, or a website dedicated to curbing bullying and resolving issues.
For New Trier, the Tip Line is a four-question forum that can be found on the New Trier website’s homepage.
The idea for a Tip Line has been in the works for a while, according to Athena Arvanitis, Director of Student Life.
A safety committee made up of students, parents, faculty, and administration focused on safety at New Trier, and specifically how to better ensure students’ safety. One of the recommendations was developing a Tip Line.
One goal of the Tip Line’s creators was to have it be New Trier-specific.
“We talked a lot about what this would look like at New Trier, so we catered it to our school’s environment,” said Arvanitis, “We’re a big school, so we always talk about maintaining a safe and respectful learning environment, and I believe that that’s how it’s really catered towards New Trier.”
As a larger school, New Trier’s environment is different than some smaller schools, which can translate to how the safety of New Trier is monitored.
The Tip Line is relatively new, and some students have yet to fully warm up to the idea or even fully understand what it does.
Sheharyar Lalani, a senior, said, “I have no clue what that is, but I don’t think I would use it.”
Administrators hoped that the anonymity of the Tip Line would help in drawing in students. They also thought that it may be more comfortable for some to submit something online than in person.
“Of course, we encourage everyone to speak to adults. We have advisers and adviser chairs who are really great resources, and we know that that’s the best avenue to take when a student wants to report something—but we also know that sometimes students aren’t comfortable doing that,” said Arvanitis.
Despite the lack of contact information, some students still feel uncomfortable using the Tip Line.
Alex Holliday, a sophomore, thought the Tip Line’s anonymity caused risk.
“I wouldn’t use the Tip Line because, to me, it feels too risky. There’s no way to trace anything, so if something reported wasn’t true, there’s no way to know,” said Holliday.
Others felt as if the Tip Line wasn’t needed, such as junior William Kirby.
“If there was a really severe incident that I witnessed, I would definitely intervene myself, or just go to the administration directly,” said Kirby.
With this sort of anonymity, another possible liability is abuse of the Tip Line. To prevent that, the Tip Line is monitored by a member of the administration.
Senior Nina Zhou felt there was room for abuse.
“I personally feel like a lot of people could misuse the Tip Line,” said Zhou.
Susie Paunan, Sophomore Adviser Chair, spoke to the screening process, saying “The Tip Line is monitored by one of our school administrators. [He/she] screens the tips brought in and evaluates the need for follow up. We want to make sure there is enough specific information there to follow up on, not just a vague statement.”
Arvenitis believes the students body is mature enough to be trusted with the tip line.
“There is a part of the Tip Line, the anonymous part, which makes it free, people can submit whatever they’d like. I think it’s up to us internally to disregard or take action on something.”