Use tech to tackle bullying in all settings

As someone who left full-time education at the age of 13 because of bullying, I am passionate about the wellbeing and mental health of young people. Everyone deserves a good education and a happy, safe adolescence.

But the issue is not isolated to schools. Bullying does not stop at the school gate – it carries on into the wider community and home, often aided by technology.

So how can we track it? Technology is part of the problem, but central to the solution.

There are three main reasons bullying goes undetected.

Lack of reporting

Studies show that over half of young people don’t report an issue of bullying to a grown up.

Admitting it makes it real, for a start. There could be a lack of trust in adults, fear of repercussions and concern that things won’t be believed.

So we need to look at systems that make it easier. This means providing a safe and private space to report an issue, be it mental health, sexual harassment, bullying, home life or online safety. Providing confidential and anonymous ways to report issues without having to approach an adult face to face will help overcome any fear of peers or mistrust in adults. Technology is vital to the solution, and used in a responsible way, we can harness it for good. It can give young people the control and confidence to report issues, as it removes the barriers to reporting, by being both anonymous, confidential and easy to use.

Reactive responses

Traditionally, issues are dealt with reactively. They often only come to light when the issue has already started to have an impact.

Dealing with issues once they have already had an impact is very much grabbing the stable door once the horses has bolted, and it also deals with incidents specifically and in isolation, meaning patterns or ongoing issues can be missed. Recognising problem areas and locations to identify why issues are happening, and capturing concerns before they escalate to a worse outcome is more proactive – and involving young people in spotting those precursors, as they know what is happening in school is a forward-thinking approach and will lead to earlier intervention.

Relevance

Current systems are often simply old-fashioned. They don’t take into consideration the ways in which young people feel comfortable communicating - namely, through digital devices. Young people are digital natives and use technology for everything: payments, tickets, socialising, research, homework, dating. Their constant connectivity means that safeguarding needs to include all locations in a young person’s community, including online - and the reporting tools need to be ones that young people are comfortable using – texts, messages, apps.

Technology can give young people the control and confidence to report issues, as it removes the barriers to reporting, by being both anonymous, confidential and easy to use.

Contextual safeguarding

UK legislation recognises contextual safeguarding as a crucial factor in identifying risks to young people outside of the home.

Contextual safeguarding was developed by Dr. Carlene Firmin at the, now University of Durham’s Contextual Safeguarding Network, and recognises that as young people grow and develop, they are influenced by a whole range of environments and people outside of their family and home. School or college is just one aspect, interconnected with their local community, and their face to face and online peer groups.

Harm can occur in any one of these environments. Sometimes the different contexts are inter-related and can mean that children and young people are at risk of child exploitation in these areas. The whole concept of contextual safeguarding looks at how we can best understand where and why harm takes place, and engage with children and young people and help to keep them safe.

We created The Student Voice around online mapping to locate all areas of issue, helping young people to report things through a mix of confidential and anonymous options so that adults can respond accordingly, working with other community groups to try to prevent issues before they develop.

By connecting the dots, and mapping out the context of where harm takes place – in school and in the wider community – it not only gives the young people the confidence to report an issue, it also enables those in authority to build on their proactive measures and make local communities safer.

As adults, we cannot expect young people to operate in the same ways we that we did when we were their age – things need to be relevant, relatable and accessible.

And we need their insights. Our tech has been built with continuous input from students, DSLs and industry safeguarding experts to help a wide range of schools, colleges, clubs and youth groups effectively tackle bullying before it starts.

Those invaluable insights will hopefully help prevent issues arising, long-term.

Tech might be part of the problem, but it also has to be part of the solution.

• Stephen Willoughby is founder of The Student Voice