Exploration of Mobile App Asa Reporting Solution to Bullying in Indian Schools

Purpose: This research paper aims to understand the bullying experiences of Indian adoloscents, their preferences regarding a bullying reporting system, specifically a mobileapplication based one, from the viewpoint of students and teachers. It also assesses the need for, and the preferred features of a mobile app for use by adolescents for reporting bullying in Indian schools. Design/methodology/approach: Two separate surveys were conducted for adolescents studying in grades 5 to 12 (sample size of 210) and teachers teaching grades 5-12 (sample size of 30). The research instruments were questionnaires with close-ended questions administered electronically. Findings:The study finds that verbal and social bullying are far more frequent than those relating to physical bullying.Most bullying incidents occur in the presence of bystanders. The study also identifies the top three preferred methods of reporting bullying. It lists the most preferred attributes of an ideal reporting system and of a mobile-app based bullying reporting system from the perspective of students and teachers. Practical implications: The insights generated by this research have been incorporated into the development of the mobile application Upstander' created by the researcher. The findings of this study will also provide a valuable reference point for other developers of bullying related apps.