The BullyBøx™
The BullyBøx is a mobile application, available for both iPhone and Android, designed to allow students to anonymously report acts of bullying without becoming directly involved in the incident. The application is available for free download on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The app also allows students to view your state's laws on bullying, as well as ways to prevent bullying or help intervene if necessary.
This application, when adopted by school systems, has the potential to be a powerful tool for educators and other educational support personnel, providing them with a means by which to fight the effects of bullying in their school. In addition, educators are in a position to utilize the data gathered from the reported incidents to improve existing strategies for resolving problems associated with bullying in their school buildings.
In addition to the iPhone and Android platforms, The BullyBøx is available on iPod Touch, tablets, and our desktop version @ bullyboxreport.com
Facing the Facts
-Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year.
-1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4 percent of the time.
-1 in 7 students in grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.
-56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.
-Over two-thirds of students believe that schools respond poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective.
-71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
(www.DoSomething.com)
Our Mission
While I (the owner of MostBeastlyStudios LLC and The BullyBøx) sometimes find it difficult to admit, I have had several negative experiences with bullying... namely in middle school. During my 8th grade year, I began to develop a passion for anti-bullying efforts. During this same period of time, I began to delve into the field of mobile software development. Then, one day, while sitting in history class, it clicked. I realized that I could combine these two dynamics, in an effort to help students report bullying on a platform that they are truly comfortable with....their phones. That year, I spent my entire Fall Break coding, and eventually developed a primitive version of The BullyBøx. Since then, the app has become much more sophisticated. Currently, The BullyBøx is available for use in any school.
My mission with The BullyBøx is to make it easier for all students to seek help. The BullyBøx allows victims to escape the social stigma that so often attaches to those who seek help. At that same time, it allows witnesses or un-involved 3rd parties, to report on a victim's behalf. Finally, The BullyBøx assists school administrators in receiving and processing reports, as well as collecting and evaluating data that will enable them to make sound, data-driven decisions, in terms of revising school policy and allocating personnel resources.
The Benefits of the BullyBøx…
Safety in mind:
Bullying has been directly linked to:
Self-harm, eating disorders, suicide, homicide, emotional distress, extreme anxiety, psychotic behavior, severe stress, clinical depression, ect.
- 75% of school shootings have been linked to bullying.
- Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying.
- 1 out of 10 students drop out of school because of bullying.
The BullyBøx serves as a facilitator of information, providing a means by which suffering students can anonymously report bullying to their school administrators. Help us to bring The BullyBøx to your school today.
(www.DoSomething.com)
And Why Your School Needs It
Liability in mind:
“Bullying lawsuits are on the rise. There are no studies the association knows of, but anecdotal evidence shows an obvious increase.”
-Francisco Negron, General Counsel of the National School Boards Association
These laws suits are increasing for several reasons, including:
- Increased public awareness
- New state laws
- A growing number of legal experts
- Federal attention on the issue
Imagine the confidence you would exhibit in court, as a school administrator, if you were able to testify that your school has implemented The BullyBøx, providing your students a means by which to seek help, as well as the ability to constantly review and revise your polices/procedures. Help us to bring The BullyBøx to your school today!!
So, what exactly does the app do?
When the student opens the app, he or she will find themselves choosing from three options:
The first option (the scroll) allows the user to view their state's laws regarding bullying.
The second option (the pencil) allows the user to submit a report
The third option (the stop sign) allows the user to view tips on how to avoid bullying, and how to handle certain situations.
The most important part of the app, however, is the ability to report acts of bullying, safely and anonymously through our SSL encrypted servers! Please see the above screenshot. The students can fill in any information they may have regarding a single isolated incident, or a series of related incidents. In addition, by selecting the "choose photo" button, the student can attach photographic evidence. This photo could be something taken in the heat of the moment or, and probably more likely, it could be a screenshot of cyber-bullying (social media, texting, etc). Students can even attach photos from the existing camera roll on their device.
When the student taps the send button, the report is automatically sent through our servers, and emailed to the designated school faculty member. Recently, we have upgraded The BullyBøx to offer schools the option of having our servers scrub reports for key terms such as "gun", "kill", "shoot", etc. If a school chooses to include this feature, the administrator will receive a priority phone call, alerting them to the report and encouraging them to check their email immediately.
Data Analysis Web Tool
Click the images to the left to view the data that can be collected, analyzed, and used to formulate and evaluate school policy.
Managing all of your bullying-related data in one spot....saving administrators time and effort!!
We at MostBeastlyStudios realize how important tangible data and numbers can be for school districts, particularly as it pertains to highly controversial topics such as bullying. In addition, we recognize how busy school administrators are. Therefore, we have developed a tool for the collection and analysis of data from reports submitted through the BullyBox, as well as subsequent investigations carried out by school personnel. Af the conclusion of their investigation, the administrator or other school personnel, can access their school's individual page to input any data available. This is then tabulated to create graphs and statistics that can then be used to evaluate and update school policy regarding bullying, as well as for completing reports required by the Indiana DOE.
** It should be noted that the data-analysis web tool can be used to document verbal reports, hand-written reports, as well as reports from The BullyBøx.
Potential data to be collected by reports submitted through the BullyBøx application, as well as throughout subsequent investigations by educational personnel, includes:
- The day of the week
- The grades of both the victim and the alleged bully
- The gender of both the victim and the alleged bully
- The level of each incident (i.e. verbal abuse, physical altercation, ect.)
- Trends of amount of investigations based on the date
- Time tables of each investigation, including all information supplied
CUSTOMIZABLE: Upon request, the data collected and tabulated can be customized to fit the needs of a particular school district.
Auto Generated Time Tables
On top of the data charts and graphs, the Data Analysis Web Tool automatically creates easy to read timetables! This will assist schools in meeting standards established by their state legislatures. For example:
Indiana Code 20-33-8-13.5(2)(B)(iv):
[schools are required to build and deliver] timetables for reporting of bullying incidents to school counselors, school administrators, the superintendent, or law enforcement, [if it is determined that reporting bullying incident to law enforcement is necessary];
