A new cyber bullying app, called Bully Blocker, is making its way onto the market this year designed to alert parents when their child could be a victim so they can intervene sooner than they have in the past.
The Dion Initiative is teaming up with Arizona State University to create Bully Blocker in hopes to curb the cyber bullying issue that many children are experiencing online.
Nicole France Stanton, wife of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, is behind the initiative named after her older brother, Dion France, reports AZ Central.
Dion, who later came out as gay in college, was bullied throughout his childhood in their small hometown for being different. He died in 1991 at age 28 from AIDS, AZ Central reports.
The ASU research project created the Bully Blocker app to help kids like her brother get the help they need.
The app, which is intended for parents, tracks their child's interactions on Facebook. When a red flag goes up in the app, suggesting that the child is at risk of or is already being cyber bullied it alerts the parents.
"It's really hard for a victim to go to an adult and say that things have happened to them because the bully works really hard to make the victim believe they deserve the treatment," Brad Snyder, executive director of the Dion Initiative, tells AZ Central.
After the parent is alerted they can intervene in an appropriate manner, hopefully getting the child the help they need before the situation worsens.
As well as the app, the Dion Initiative is also currently creating anti-bullying curriculum development, researching the effectiveness of anti-bullying programs, doing community outreach, and using technology - such as Bully Blocker - to curb bullying.
Bully Blocker is planned to be launched within the next year.
