Anonymous reporting systems have existed for decades, but the number of schools using them increased dramatically after the 2018 massacre at Parkland High School in Florida during which 17 staff and students were killed by a lone gunman, according to a 2021 study funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant.
Researchers from the National Center for School Safety of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention concluded the reporting systems improved cognitive and behavioral outcomes among sixth grade students and reduced overall school violence compared to schools that had not implemented them.