"Bully Box" is an app which allows young people, parents, and teachers to safely and anonymously report acts of bullying in schools.
BULLYING IS A BIG CHALLENGE
One of the most pressing issues in modern society is bullying in schools. Bullying has been proven to cause significant harm to developing young minds. It is one of the main social challenges in Lithuania, with about 30% of children becoming victims once or several times per week. Recording bullying incidents accurately and efficiently is still a difficult task. Most bullied children do not report these incidents. Students are often afraid to be labelled as a ‘snitch’ or do not want their parents to know about their problems at school.
REPORT BULLYING SAFELY AND ANONYMOUSLY
"Bully Box" (Patyčių dėžutė) is an anti-bullying app, designed to allow students, their parents, and teachers to safely and anonymously report acts of bullying. The development of the project involved extensive consultations with more than fifteen stakeholder groups, including public and private sector organisations, non-governmental organisations, teachers, pupils, and local authorities. This innovation requires every day commitment from the school community, including documenting incidents, organising help, informing school leaders, and, when necessary, parents. It requires the whole school to trust each other, and thus brings people together. To date, around two hundred Lithuanian schools have joined the initiative. The platform consists of an easy-to-use website and a mobile app, as well as a management system which can be downloaded and installed free of charge by all schools. It allows reports to be made about students or any member of the school community who suffers from bullying or is a bully themselves. It is also possible to attach a screenshot of potential cyberbullying to the report.
IMPROVING CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH
The innovation underpinning “Bully Box” is that it provides digital solution that results in a cultural change in Lithuanian schools. "Bully Box" provides an opportunity to effectively ask for help and to stop bullying at an early stage. It reduces the likelihood of requiring significant psychological support or community-wide interventions in the future, and therefore reduces the long-term cost of mental health support. The platform creates sustainable improvement, not only in school communities, but also in the children’s perception of their own safety in school.
