Kids in the United States (US) witness cyberbullying on a daily basis when they log into their social network accounts. According to a recent study undertaken by the internet security company McAfee, the number of kids who have witnessed cyberbullying tripled in one year. Keeping in view the escalating numbers of bullying incidents in the cyber world, parents and teachers started thinking about ways as how to prevent cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is not a new form of bullying anymore, but this doesn’t mean that it has lost its potency yet. Rising incidents of cyberbullying inspired a teen from Pendleton Heights Junior, named Brandon Boyton, to develop his own app called Bullybox. The purpose of this app is to enable children to report bullying anonymously. It allows a victim or a witness to grab a quick screen shot of the incident, fill in a few blanks and send the data without the fear of exposing their identity.

Simple Idea Made Strong

The school where Boynton went had a physical bully box installed in the hallway to encourage children to drop notes in the box if they experience or witness bullying. Boynton remembered that the box was always empty because it was placed at the busiest spot of school. This was one reason why bullying incidents went unreported and the victims were left with no choice but to suffer in silence.

“A lot of times, speaking up against bullying is perceived as being negative. You lose your cool status,” said Boynton. This is another reason why most students decide not to report incidents of bullying if they witness one. Keeping these problems in view, Boynton developed the app to empower fellow students to anonymously report bullying in school premises.

Bullybox allow students to take screen shots of bullying incidents and share it via the app without leaving any trail behind. The image is then shared with the administrator so he/she would know what is happening on a certain Instagram account without following the target person on the social website or having a personal account.

Young Entrepreneur

Boynton was one of the six finalists in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Saunders Scholars Finals. Unfortunately he failed to win the scholarship or the start-up prize money, but he didn’t lose his will. The app is free but schools have to pay a small fee to receive bullying reports. In addition, each school also receives user identification and the information is sent over an encrypted server before being forwarded to school authorities concerned. Many schools are already showing interest in the app and are willing to subscribe to Bullybox in order to prevent cyberbullying in schools. The motivation behind Boynton’s idea has been summed up nicely in his own words: “If the application saves one life or if it prevents one wrist from being cut then it’s a success.”