For many years, both educators and parents have pressed Instagram to take measures against bullying and harassment among students that frequently originate on the platform and carry over into educational environments.

Now, Instagram, a subsidiary of Meta, is unveiling a new initiative that enables educators to directly report safety issues, including bullying, to the platform.

The Schools Partnership program is being launched as a pilot and is accessible to all middle and high schools across the U.S. It was created with contributions from the International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit dedicated to educational technology, as well as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

When schools involved in the program report content or accounts that may breach Instagram’s community standards, those submissions will be given priority for assessment. Instagram will also keep schools informed about the status of their reports and will alert them when actions are taken.

For involvement, schools are required to have an official Instagram account, which will showcase a profile banner that signifies their collaboration with the platform.

Meta informed *Mashable* that schools participating in the program typically appoint a single administrator, like an assistant principal, to manage safety reports and liaise with Instagram. Per Meta’s regulations, official school accounts must be overseen by school officials instead of parent-teacher organization volunteers.

The issue of bullying and harassment linked to Instagram has increasingly alarmed educators and parents alike.

In October 2022, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which represents 1.7 million educators in the United States, teamed up with the nonprofit ParentsTogether to urge Instagram to take action against gossip accounts that foster bullying.

A petition from AFT and ParentsTogether called for Instagram to uphold its community guidelines by eliminating accounts that predominantly feature bullying material and prioritizing reports from verified school accounts.

Nicholas Perrone, the principal of Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven, Connecticut, commended Instagram’s new initiative after trialing it prior to its official introduction.

“Instagram took these reports seriously and responded,” Perrone stated to *Mashable*. He clarified that his school had reported incidents of bullying, harassment, online violence, and fake accounts. “Consequently, we observed a reduction in harmful online content that could have posed significant safety threats to our students.”

Meta revealed that middle and high schools can enroll in a waitlist for the initiative via their Instagram settings by choosing “account type and tools” or “business tools and controls.” Schools can also obtain further information and register on [Instagram’s website](http://about.instagram.com/community/educators).