Police use MySpace to reach out to students
MySpace helps NLR police link to students:
MySpace can also can be used as a tool for good if you let it.
North Little Rock, Arkansas police officers Jon Schwulst and Fran Hichens are school officers who use their MySpaces to keep in contact with students in a totally non-creepy and productive way.
A majority of the notes are just students checking in to say hello.
“It reaches some kids that you would never have a platform to talk to,” Hichens said. “It lets them know you’re a person and you’re real — that you’re just a normal person outside of your uniform.”
The two officers said that on rare occasions, students will use MySpace to let officers know about a problem at school. Hichens said one of his students was posting “alarming” items on a MySpace page. A fellow student alerted Hichens to the problem via a MySpace message, and Hichens was able to assist the student in finding personal help.
Schwulst, who works at Lakewood Middle School, said a student contacted him anonymously to tell him a fellow student was cutting herself.
“The parents had no clue,” Schwulst said. “That student was able to have some intervention and it all happened because one person sent me a message.”
My hat is off to these fine officers for communicating with kids in their world.
Tags: Fran-Hichens, Jon-Schwulst, north-little-rockRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Law
1 opinion for Police use MySpace to reach out to students
KDuba
Aug 7, 2007 at 7:03 pm
It’s nice to hear something good about myspace every now and then. Kudos to the good guys who use it to do GOOD things!
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