Meghalaya girl’s anti-bullying app gets Centre’s recognition

SHILLONG, Feb 24 (HS):  Recognising her creation,  Union Minister incharge of HRD Ministry, Dr RP Nishank recently presented a special appreciation certificate and memento to Meaidaibahun Majaw, a class IV student from Shillong who has recently developed an ‘anti-bullying’ app.

A 9-year-old girl, Meaidaibahun, a resident at Nonghymmai Shillong, has developed an ‘Anti-Bullying App’ which will help children report cases of bullying anonymously and at the same time alert their parents and teachers.

Meaidaibahun’s father enrolled her into a coding class at WhiteHat Jr as she wanted to create her own game. The girl had enrolled in an app-development course in September last year, and learned the skills within a few months.

Meaidaibahun had been subject to bullying herself by other students in school.  She spends most of her time being online; however, unlike other kids of her age, she’s utilising the Internet to create something productive.

“I created the app because I loved playing games and wanted to create my own game after my father enrolled me into a coding class. However, since I experienced bullying from Nursery to Class II, and my sister too had faced a similar situation in school, I decided to create an app against bullying,” Meaidaibahun said.

The Anti-Bullying App, which can be downloaded from Google Play, was created while the little girl learnt coding on WhiteHat Jr, which is a platform that harnesses the natural creativity of kids (six to 14 years) with coding tools to help them create professional-ready digital products of global impact. Once logged in, the child can anonymously share details of the incident including the name of the bully and give detailed explanation on how they were mistreated.

This notifies their parents and teachers and encourages them to take necessary disciplinary action to nip the problem in the bud.

Meaidaibahun has her own story to share on why she decided to create the app. “I came up with the idea as I experienced being bullied myself from Nursery to Class II. Although I’m not bullied anymore, it was rough till when I was in Class II,” she recalled.

Today, Meaidaibahun has brought laurels to the state by being one among 15 children from around the world to be selected for a scholarship for travelling to the Silicon Valley in the US to meet investors.

“I wish that this app will be able to stop bullying around the world,” she said.

“Users can provide details of cases, including the bully’s name, etc, and send messages to the people concerned. This will allow the authorities concerned to take necessary steps,” she explained.

After getting the news of the scholarship, Meaidaibahun was naturally overjoyed. She will be visiting Silicon Valley in the month of May to present the app before an audience comprising investors.

“I have built another app which would help customers at our resort at Tyrna to place food orders without human intervention. There are several other apps that I am working on… Hopefully, experts will take note of my work,” the girl added.

Her efforts have been appreciated by State Education Minister Lakmen Rymbui, who said that the girl would grow up to be a responsible citizen.

“I wish Meai the best in her endeavour to fight social ills. She will be a responsible citizen. I congratulate her parents too for guiding her,” Rymbui added.

A 2017 survey, conducted by The Teacher Foundation in association with Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATIS), found that 42% children in India are bullied in schools.