Bullying situations – Any child who is bullied can send for help discreetly. Whether a younger child or a teen, help is a button push away.

“Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict.^[1] Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time.^[2] Bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual, physically, mentally or emotionally.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying – Accessed Aug. 4, 2022

While the topic of bullying has been a concern in schools, school boards and governments for years, nothing really seems to be getting done about it. Sure, everyone talks a good game, but bullying continues. It used to be people getting bullied in class and the school yard and in neighborhoods, but with digital technology, now people can get bullied on the other side of the world, no differently than if they were just next door.

One current court case in Canada involves a man from the Netherlands being charged with various crimes for bullying a Victoria, British Columbia, teen into sending him inappropriate photos of herself. Eventually, the fifteen-year-old committed suicide. The court case is still to be resolved at the time of this writing.

While that may be one case of extreme individual bullying, it continues everywhere and all the time around the world. In mid-summer 2022, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) threatened the United States with “grave consequences” if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were to visit Taiwan during her Asia-Pacific tour. Taiwan is a free, democratic, and sovereign country, but the CCP doesn’t see it that way. Keep in mind that the CCP has been bullying most of the countries along the Asia-Pacific coast for years by controlling the South-China Sea, even thousands of miles from mainland China and building islands in the middle of the sea to create air and naval bases out of coral and claiming the mineral rights under the islands, at will.

We could go on for hours about bullying. I suggest however, that if you want to know more about bullying, visit the Wikipedia link as shown above. For most of us, bullying is something that happens closer to home; your son or daughter is bullied at school or in the neighborhood or on the school bus. Being pushed around or slapped or degraded in front of friends or other students or having their lunch money extorted/taken from them. Bullying is demeaning and dehumanizing.

But what does this mean to you? Basically, bullying can happen anywhere and at anytime, in school, a school playground, on a school bus or a sidewalk near home. Due to this reality, fortunately, most older children now have a smartphone in a pocket or backpack. With the Here I Am app on your child’s phone (keep in mind that bullying happens to adults as well), in the time of bullying or before the bullying begins, your child will be able to send an emergency message to you and two others that they need help. At which point one of the contacts can make their way to save/pick-up the child or 9-1-1 can be called and the authorities sent to the scene to rescue the victim(s) and end the violence being perpetuated by the bully. With the Here I Am App you or members of your family will be letting friends and family know when you or they need help and will be able to direct 9-1-1 to your or their exact location saving time and perhaps both physical and emotional detrimental effects.