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BigPulse Opinion Markets
Bully Beater launching in K-12 schools
San Francisco – K-12 Schools are about to discover a web-based democracy invention that can defeat bullies. It's called the Bully Beater, an application of www.schoolpoll.com, a product of BigPulse.com.
Bully Beater was launched recently in the UK (BBC report) and Australia where schools are reporting a surge in reporting of incidents of bulling. A world leading authority on bullying, Dr Ken Rigby says, "Getting students to report incidents of bullying is central to solving the problem."
How does the Bully Beater work? All student names appear in a permanent online poll with a name like Who's the School Bully? No one is shamed because all names appear in the forum listed alphabetically from the outset. The poll is visible only to students and nominated teachers. Any student can vote any time in privacy knowing that only nominated teachers can see who gets votes and who voted. Nominated teachers see the bully names ranked by votes and also which students voted for anyone with bully votes – this inhibits malicious voting.
School Poll founder Ralph McKay said, "Many students feel uncomfortable approaching school authorities directly. The Bully Beater makes it so easy for anyone who is bullied or who witnesses bullying to inform school authorities. People can vote in private from anywhere, perhaps from home."
Wallsend Campus principal Peter McBeth said, "Schools must continue to search for solutions to bullying, it's a serious problem everywhere. Bullies flourish in a culture where students feel intimidated to report. If we can change this culture of not reporting we are likely to see a dramatic decline in bullying. Bully Beater is a promising technological solution to this reporting issue.
"We notice that students do use the system responsibly as soon as they understand that their votes are transparent yet confidential."
The first school to use Bully Beater was St Mary's Roman Catholic High School in Herefordshire in the UK. This school experienced an immediate surge in reporting. 10 per cent of students used Bully Beater to report concerns within the first few weeks. Assistant Head Mike Fitzgerald said, "No school is immune to bullying and schools have been searching for answers for a long time." He goes on to say, "We have been impressed by the Bully Beater poll idea. It has given us an immediate and very clear picture of where the bullying is occurring, who is affected and the extent of it. The Bully Beater won't end bullying but it's another weapon in our armoury."
McKay said, "The Bully Beater makes a powerful statement to the entire community that bullying will not be tolerated. Students can feel safer and parents can feel more at ease.
"The other uses of www.schoolpoll.com give students a taste of democracy including secure polls, surveys, student elections and interactive continuous Opinion Markets."
Dr Ken Rigby, Adjunct Research Professor, University of South Australia is the author of eight books and many peer review published papers on the subject of bullying.
