Marc Hardwick, Former Child Protection Unit Officer and director of The Guardian Group, a child abuse investigation company, has launched a ground-breaking application that will help fight bullying and child abuse in schools.
The app, which is the world first, is unique in its method as it is intended specifically to serve as a tool where students can secretly report physical abuse, bullying and sexual assault.
Hardwick also noted that a very important feature built into the app is one that will allow schools to send out push notifications regarding school news and sports fixtures.
The school can conduct an internal investigation on the reports submitted through the app, but if they feel the need for an external forensic investigation for the more extreme cases, such as rape or sexual abuse, they have the liberty of approaching investigators from The Guardian or the police, said Hardwick.
"We encourage schools to send out messages on the app at least every two weeks, as this then means that learners will need the app on their phone" said The Guardian Group Director.
This is important because in a case of bullying for example if the bully checked the reporter’s phone and found that the anonymous reporting app was on the phone, the bully would know who made the report.
However, if every learner has the app to receive the push notifications this further protects the anonymity of the reporter.
Hardwick stated that the country has the best reactive laws but the worst proactive when it comes to fight bullying and abuse.
This kind of work is more about safeguarding the best interests of the adult survivor and the child victim.
