As part of October’s National Bullying Prevention Month, educators and students are turning to technology solutions that allow for anonymous reporting and encourage those who witness bullying to stand up against it.
National statistics from Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center reveal that 22 percent of students reported being bullied during the school year.
Sixty-four percent of children who were bullied did not report it, and school-based bullying prevention programs have resulted in a 25 percent decrease in bullying.
Students who are bullied are at a higher risk for poor school adjustment, sleep difficulties, anxiety and depression. In an August 2016 survey, participating adults ranked bullying as their top health concern (57 percent) for children.
Next page: 8 anti-bullying resources
We’ve gathered anti-bullying resources, apps and tools to help you promote a bullying-free school and district environment.
ClassDojo and Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), announced an initiative designed to help millions of students worldwide learn about the power of empathy. Through the collaboration, ClassDojo and HGSE MCC created an original series of animated, short films along with discussion guides that will be available to all teachers, parents, and students on ClassDojo.
Chartwells K12, a food service provider, has trained thousands of cafeteria workers to spot and stop bullying in a place where it most frequently happens–the lunch line and cafeteria. Chartwells’ workers are trained to look for unexplained injuries, changes in demeanor, frequent complaints of headaches, stomachaches or feeling sick, which can indicate a victim of bullying. When it comes to identifying bullies, Chartwells employees look for signs that include: new friendships with known bullying peers, involvement in physical/verbal fights, instances of verbal abuse to peers or other food service professionals.
The health impact of bullying on children will be highlighted on MerckManuals.com, an online medical reference, for National Bullying Prevention Month. The featured content includes information on signs of bullying, bullying’s impact, and ways educators can initiate bullying prevention and awareness campaigns.
Cincinnati Reds baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench just unveiled a new app to help schools nationwide stop bullying. The Smithfield School App is designed specifically for schools to . The app’s “Incident Reporting” feature puts the power in the student’s hands to report bullying, crimes, threats, weapons, mental health issues and much more. School officials are alerted immediately and can take proper action.
Stomp Out Bullying offers users an entire month of anti-bullying actions, which can be put into practice year-round to promote tolerance. Resources focus on reducing and preventing bullying, cyberbullying, sexting and other digital abuse, educating against homophobia, racism and hatred, decreasing school absenteeism, and deterring violence in schools, online and in communities across the country.
The-No-App empowers the victims of bullying and their parents. The app immediately alerts parents to problem interactions and creates a record of the person(s) bothering the child. This app helps create peace-of-mind for both the young user and his/her parents. It delivers a clear message to whomever is bothering the child, immediately alerts his/her parents that something may be wrong, and creates evidence of who was harassing the child. It is also a tool to give parents an excuse to talk to their children about staying safe.
Anonymous Alerts is a secure anti-bullying app and safety reporting system that lets students to quickly report incidents related to bullying, cyberbullying, student depression, family problems, self-harm, drugs, gang-related issues, harassment, weapons on campus or unusual student behavior which may warrant immediate attention by school officials. The reporter of the incident can establish anonymous 2-way communications with school officials. Anonymous Alerts encourages those who feel vulnerable or less confident to speak up without fear of reprisal.
The BullyBøx is designed to allow students to safely and anonymously report acts of bullying or other school-safety concerns. The BullyBøx provides a “voice” to those being victimized, as well as empowering up-standers, while simultaneously allowing reporters to refrain from becoming directly involved in the incident.
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