(Newswire.net — July 29, 2014) Tampa, FL —
Millions of children will be returning to school in the coming weeks and nearly one child out of every three in grades 6-12, will do so in fear of becoming a victim of peer group bullying. Amongst LGBT students, eight out of ten will be bullied. An estimated 25 million families will be traumatized because of bullying.
Bully Ban technology changes our response to bullying incidents to reduce those statistics and their subsequent suicide rates. Bully Ban can help mitigate the traumatic effects of this behavior in our schools. Children will be able to instantly and anonymously report physical, verbal or cyber bullying, on or off campus, to a designated school official.
“No kid wants to be a snitch or risk their own safety,” says Bully Ban creator Melissa Maxim. “This technology works in real-time to report incidents to a person who is trained to assess the situation and take immediate action. Just like cyber-bullying, it works anywhere–whether the child is at home, class, in the restroom or hallway.”
The Making of a Movement
“It’s time we band together and put school bullies on official notice,” says Maxim, an entrepreneur specializing in communication technology. “This is much more than a data communication and analytic tool—we’re talking a change in culture where the kids themselves stop this growing epidemic of cruel, senseless and harmful hazing. Students need to let their peers know it’s not cool to bully nor is it going to be tolerated. There is power and strength in numbers and we’re part of a movement to prove it. The courage of one child today can save the life of another tomorrow.”
Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1i4jRUm4Is
Bully Ban is an emerging millennial movement. It begins by taking a pledge. Both students and parents can take the pledge by Texting “BullyBan” to 96000 or by visiting their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/BullyBan. Students pledge to band together and to let their peers know they got their backs. Parents pledge to help keep their kids at school safer,” Maxim states, ”I know bullying will never go away in its entirety but I do believe that we can make a difference by equipping students and parents with the tools and technology they need to be proactive instead of reactive.”
As part of Bully Ban’s movement and campaign Maxim teamed up with graduates of Florida’s esteemed Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. Producers Christian Dyer, Jeff Boos, Natasha Thornton, and Nathan Rothenberger are not much older than the kids in the videos and all have grown up with bullying.
“Our approach is from a kid’s perspective,” Dyer explains, adding that the actors in the films include a combination of actual bullying victims and new talent, like Olivia Caputo, a Florida Miss Teen.
Melissa Maxim, also a 15-year professionally trained dancer and graduate of the University of South Florida in Business is putting the final touches on a theme song and EDM & Hip Hop dance experience that will follow up with an EDM dance/fitness video. “We’re approaching the issue from all angles to grow our movement and build our numbers. Numbers have power and the technology behind Bully Ban is ready to handle those numbers and make bullying a sad social stigma that flourished in the first decade of the new millennium.”
For More Information:
Text “Melissa” to 96000
Email: Melissa@bully-ban.com
* Statistics from the CDC and Anti Bullying Information Center