A superintendent in Broward County, Florida is encouraging students to text message (anonymously) a special number to alert school officials to any criminal activity in this report. I think that this is a great way to use technology. So many people are text messaging now; for younger people, texting is more convenient than calling. This new innovation could remove some of the barriers, such as voice recognition or call tracing, that may have prevented students from calling in tips to the hotline.
Texting could also be a very useful form of relaying warnings, even warnings about disease outbreaks and other health emergencies. In many rural areas in developing countries, the infrastructure would not support phone lines, so many people use cell phones to communicate. Texting would be an excellent way to disseminate important information to these people. There would be an issue with regulation and it would be difficult to validate anonymous tips of reports of disease, but I think if an efficient program is developed, texting could be a very important tool for public health officials.
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