Ilford schoolgirl creating iPhone app to beat the bullies
A young girl who was once at the hands of heartless school bullies is designing an iPhone app to raise awareness and do her bit to help eradicate the problem.
Lashai Ben-Salmi, of Eton Road, Ilford, has applied for �5,000 of funding with hopes of making her anti-bullying app a reality.
The youngster is being nominated for the Recorder/Rotary Young Citizen Award for the effort she is putting in to stamp out bullying in schools.
The 11-year-old’s mother Sabrina Ben-Salmi said: “The bullying started at school. Lashai has never been a street-wise child and some of the things she told me were horrible. She had her hair pulled and a lot of it was violent.
“I pulled her out and we home-schooled her for a year. It was the only option available. Naturally she lost a lot of confidence from this, as most children of eight or nine would.”
You may also want to watch:
Lashai is the eldest of four siblings.
She and her younger brother have been invited to pitch the app to a board of entrepreneurs in October, in hope of gaining some of the funding to get it off the ground.
Most Read
- 1 Restaurant faces losing licence after allegations of illegal club nights during pandemic
- 2 Have you seen this 52-year-old man missing from Ilford?
- 3 Safeguarding concerns at 'outstanding' Atam Academy in Chadwell Heath
- 4 Restaurant stripped of its alcohol licence
- 5 Wanstead wine expert launches new shop
- 6 Derelict pavilion in Goodmayes Park destroyed by fire
- 7 Young Citizen: 'Our community needs us the most right now', says Mutual Aid volunteer
- 8 Have you seen this 17-year-old missing from Ilford?
- 9 Calls to extend school streets consultation
- 10 Royal Mail lists six Redbridge postcodes hit by Covid postal delays
The app will provide access to a mentoring programme which will enable younger people experiencing bullying to get advice from professionals.
“She is interested in science, art and journalism,” added Mrs Ben-Salmi.
“She has done so well to re-integrate back in school after being taken out during the bullying, and she takes her studies very seriously.”