Students offered ”snitch” money

ATLANTA – Last month’s school shooting in Minnesota has stirred interest in “snitch” programs that pay students for telling on classmates who break the law or violate school rules.

In central Georgia last week, the Houston County School District became the state’s first to enroll in the national Student CrimeStoppers program, started in 1983. Students can earn up to $500 for alerting school officials about firearms and up to $100 for fingering classmates involved in vandalism, theft or drugs.

Officials at another Georgia school, Model High School in Rome, said last week they have implemented a policy in which students can earn up to $100 for information about thefts, drugs or guns on campus.

Russ Skiba, professor of educational psychology at Indiana University in Bloomington who co-chaired a U.S. Education Department project on violence prevention in 11 schools, says he worries that reward programs are a “knee-jerk reaction” to the school shootings in Red Lake, Minn. Student Jeff Weise, 16, of Red Lake, killed nine people and wounded 14 others before killing himself March 21.

At the 650-student Model High School, money from candy and soda sales will be used to pay $10 for valid information about campus thefts, $25 or $50 for tips on drugs and $100 for leads on gun possession and other felonies.

A similar program at Cherryville High School in rural Gaston County, N.C., “has really worked well,” says Principal Stephen Huffstetler. He implemented the program two years ago. “This year, we’ve given out $1,100,” he said. “For $100, they’ll turn their mothers in.”