13-yr-old girl's app to fight bullying in schools lands `50L funding offer

The sight of a fellow student being mocked during a school function five years ago is etched deep in Anoushka Jolly's memories. But for this 13-year-old, that incident became the push to start a social initiative to stop bullying and provide a platform for students as wells as parents to report anonymously.

The 'Anti Bullying Squad (ABS)', with help from educational institutions, social organisations and experts, has positively impacted over 2,000 students from over 100 schools and universities, said Jolly as she spoke about the digital platform, she formed three years ago.

The Class 8 student has also come up with a mobile application called 'Kavach' and it allows students and parents to report incidents of bullying anonymously, giving opportunity to schools and counsellors to tactfully intervene and take action. The incident of the girl being bullied "got registered in my memory and I still cannot forget her face", she was terrified and felt helpless, said Jolly, who was nine years old then.

"I was attending the school annual day when my friends decided to bully the six-year-old girl who they found annoying. They walked up to her and started calling her names and laughed at her," she said. "Soon, I realised how common the problem is and saw many other children of my age being victims of bullying and losing confidence," said Jolly whose social initiative not only made her the youngest contestant to pitch her entrepreneurial idea on TV reality show Shark Tank India but also landed her a funding offer of Rs 50 lakh. The Pathways School, Gurugram, student wants to build a strong network of anti-bullying ambassadors, who will track the progress of those impacted directly or indirectly through the platform and application.

"I have been running the ABS digital platform for over three years with an aim of spreading awareness about bullying which leaves many scarred and desolated. The platform acts as a community where specialists come together to organise one-on-one sessions in schools against bullying," said Jolly.