31 August 2006

Salford Metropolitan Borough Council has become the latest to sign up to a new Internet service, designed to tackle bullying and racism.

The service allows staff and pupils to log in to a secure online environment, where incidents can be reported confidentially.

Officials hope that the Sentinel Anti-Bullying system will enable children to report abuse more easily and encourage them to take action, PublicTechnology.net reports.

Councillor John Warmisham, lead member for children’s services in Salford, said: "Sentinel will enable Salford to meet national requirements in reporting racial incidents, but will go beyond this, combating all forms of bullying within schools and children’s services, including gender and homophobic bullying."

"The web-based access is secure and universal and is a medium which will appeal to children, which will help us to get a truer picture of the issues."

Recent figures from ChildLine indicated that the number of reported bullying incidents are rising, which some experts believe is due to improved confidence among those affected.

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