"Students know more about what's going on in the halls and in the classrooms, sometimes more than anybody else does," said Newton County Schools superintendent Pat Ross.

For that reason, the Newton County School District is installing the 'Talk About It' computer program.

The program, which was piloted in 2005 in Pearl, is designed to provide an open door of communication between students and faculty. The program is basically an anonymous tip line for students who feel threatened in any way.

"We want to make sure our students feel real comfortable about making those issues known. Whether it's being bullied, whether it's being threatened on a bus on the way home, whether it's just feeling uncomfortable about something that may happen at school," Ross said. "All are things that students may report through this 'Talk About It' program."

While this program is beneficial for students who feel picked on, it also provides an avenue for anyone who may have tips about illegal activities or something that could result in harm for students.

"The name of the student that made the report really is kept safe until it is just critical that we know it," said Ross. "And that's the best thing about it, because really in about 99% of the cases what the students tell us is going to remain anonymous."

The pilot program for the system, which was developed by AnComm, was used at Pearl High School in 2005. School districts that use the program hope in the future it can help prevent incidents like the shooting that took place there in October 1997.

"Newton County is a fantastic place to go to school, but we are not immune to things happening, from a catastrophic standpoint to day-in and day-out discipline problems," said Ross. "We have those issues and we want to be up front about dealing with those issues."

The system also allows the district to send mass text messages to students and parents in the event of an emergency.