OUR VIEW: Positive move to battle bullying

It's great to see Vodafone taking a responsible attitude to text-bullying, and it's equally heart-warming to see Waihi woman Heather Powell getting in behind the move.
Ms Powell knows more than most about the tragedies which can be caused by text-bullying.
Her son Michael took his own life last year, aged just 15. She believes her son killed himself after misinterpreting a series of text messages from two girls, aged 13 and 14, who indicated they were involved in a suicide pact.
Bullying via text message has become an increasing phenomenon as young people in particular have become more technology-savvy and cellphones have become a regular part of most people's daily lives.
This trend is only likely to increase over time, as mobile communication devices drop in price and become more accessible to the general public.
For Ms Powell to attend the recent launch of Vodafone's new Blacklist service, which will allow a cellphone's owner to block up to 20 numbers, took real courage.
There can be no doubt that it must be incredibly difficult for Ms Powell to be pushing herself out into the limelight like this.
All sudden deaths are tragic, but there's something particularly painful about a young person making the decision to take their own life.
The free Blacklist service will be available to Vodafone's 2.5 million customers, and as well as blocking unwanted text messages, the service does not alert the sender to the fact this is happening.
Vodafone will also be helping educate students on how to protect themselves against unwanted messages.
Of course, the Blacklist service will be useful for more situations than just teens being bullied, and it is good to see Vodafone moving with the times and adapting to account for the potential misuse of its mobile network.
As unpalatable as it may be for some parents, it's becoming harder and harder to keep an eye on the modern generation of teenagers.
The peer pressure that normally plays a role in ensuring teens end up with cellphones often makes sure they get cars also.
That makes it harder for parents to watch for any signs of distress with their children, especially when coupled with the usual communication issues which can spring up between parents and teenagers.
It can only be hoped that if other New Zealand mobile phone networks do not already have the blocking technology, that they will quickly follow suit.
It would be nice to think they would take this move solely in the interests of helping protect the community they serve, but if nothing else, it makes good commercial sense also - parents looking to ensure their children keep themselves safe while using their cellphone will be keen to ensure they use a phone network which provides them with a blocking capacity, if needed. Sadly, for Ms Powell, none of this will bring her son back.
But hopefully she will be able to take some comfort in the knowledge that in the wake of his death, companies like Vodafone are taking responsible steps to ensure the list of New Zealand teenagers lost to suicide is given as little chance as possible to grow.