易胜博官网

A new National Science Foundation grant will help 易胜博官网 researchers launch a violence prevention solution for high school students that addresses relationship violence, bullying, harassment and more. With the $548,000 grant, 易胜博官网鈥檚 Prevention Innovations Research Center (PIRC) will launch and pilot uSafeHS鈩�, a comprehensive, commercially viable high school violence prevention and safety app.

The app draws on PIRC鈥檚 extensive research into evidence-based measures to end relationship violence and builds upon the success of its 耻厂补蹿别鲍厂庐 mobile app for college students. Currently used at 24 colleges and universities, 耻厂补蹿别鲍厂庐 is acclaimed, but 鈥渇eedback from colleges consistently told us that we needed to help students learn healthy behaviors earlier,鈥� says Sharyn Potter, professor of women鈥檚 and gender studies and executive director of research for PIRC.

鈥淪tudents have problems 24-7, so uSafeHS is with them 24-7 in a form students are most comfortable with 鈥� their phones.鈥�

Now a prototype that was piloted at seven high schools this past year, uSafeHS鈩� addresses the five most common types of high school violence: hazing, bullying, sexual and identity harassment, as well as teen dating and sexual assault. Research shows that these negative behaviors, sometimes dismissed as 鈥減art of growing up,鈥� affect more than their victims; if unchecked, they can escalate over time, putting an entire school community at risk for more serious forms of school violence.

鈥淪tudents often don鈥檛 know what to do when faced with behaviors like bullying,鈥� says Potter. Microlearning modules in the app, based on a social emotional learning framework identified by the , teach students how to respond safely, build positive relationships, and practice self-care. The learning is gamified to keep students engaged.

The app also includes Time to LeaveTM, an innovative feature of the college-focused 耻厂补蹿别鲍厂庐 app that lets users send themselves a fake text or call, giving them a reason to leave an uncomfortable situation. In addition, uSafeHS鈩� gives students and high school administrators extensive, easily customizable school resources and research-informed sources of information, including a confidential tip line, which the U.S. Department of Justice deems a best practice for preventing school violence. An administrator dashboard gives schools insights into how students are using the app with analytics, helps them manage tips and enables them to send push notifications directly to student cellphones, offering schools an additional communication channel.

This is PIRC鈥檚 second NSF grant for this initiative; the first enabled the team to extensively research requirements and to build and test the prototype. With this three-year grant, they鈥檒l take the app into 40 schools with the ultimate goal of widespread distribution and commercialization.

The app can be used both in the classroom to reinforce social and emotional learning as well as outside of school, to help students find evidence-based support and assistance even when there are no school staff nearby. 鈥淪tudents have problems 24-7, so uSafeHS is with them 24-7 in a form students are most comfortable with 鈥� their phones,鈥� says Potter.

In addition to Potter, the all-female team from PIRC includes postdoctoral researcher Elizabeth Moschella; Michelle Lynch, director of technology product development and marketing; and project and customer coordinator Laurie Dawe. The team has partnered with developers Jonathan Shallow, a current 易胜博官网 grad student and instructor, and T.J. Evarts 鈥�20, who also designed and developed the 耻厂补蹿别鲍厂庐 app. In this next phase of development, Potter鈥檚 team will partner with faculty and graduate students at Johnson C. Smith University, a historically Black university in North Carolina.

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