Game to help stop school bullies
A 21-YEAR-OLD Malvern man who was bullied throughout his school career is using his experiences to help others.
Ryan Duncan Prithraj has invented a board game called the Bully Boogie Challenge, which he hopes will be used as a tool by children and schools to educate people about the effects of bullying.
The fourth-year student of political science, law, public policy and administration at the University of Cape Town has taken his game to the education department, which has endorsed it as an effective tool to combat bullying.
Along with his father, Vicky, he came up with the idea of the game more than a year ago.
“In this society we see that the bullying curriculum takes an active role – rather than a passive role – at school,” said Prithraj. “It not only encourages children to think about bullying, but parents, too. Some parents barely grasp the fact that bullying extends to the virtual world, where bullying via social media has resulted in many teen suicides.”
The aim of the game is to take bullying from being words on a page to being a decision where the player makes a conscious effort to evaluate the consequences of his or her actions and the responses to an incident of bullying.
“As a player you’re equipped with skills and knowledge to assess consequences and appropriate responses, without being a bully, bystander or victim of bullying. You are not labelled or victimised. Rather, you are taught to evaluate reallife situations and how best to react to them. As a child… every night as a homework requirement you actively learn about the nuances of a very serious issue.”
Prithraj’s goal is for every school and child in the province to have access to the game. It is available for purchase from Prithraj, who can be contacted at r.prithraj@gmail.com.