1. Our Commitment to Student Safety

BalanceBoard serves high school students navigating one of the most stressful periods of their lives. We take our responsibility for student safety seriously. This Safety Policy explains the limited circumstances in which BalanceBoard displays safety resources and the limits of what we can do as a technology platform.

2. In-App Safety Features

Emergency Toolkit

Signed-in students can open coping tools, including breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and crisis-resource links, from the application navigation.

Limited Crisis-Resource Phrase Check

Before an AI Buddy message is sent to the AI provider, a deterministic phrase check looks for a limited set of crisis-related expressions. When it matches, the normal AI request is skipped and the app displays crisis resources. This check is imperfect, is not clinical monitoring, and may miss language outside its supported patterns.

3. Limits of Our Safety Capabilities

Be Aware of What BalanceBoard Cannot Do

We do not monitor conversations in real time. The currently available app has no live safety team watching student activity.
We are not a crisis hotline. If someone contacts us about an emergency, we cannot dispatch help. We will direct them to 911 and 988.
We cannot guarantee immediate response. Our support team may take hours or days to review reports (we prioritize safety flags but we are a small team).
The automated phrase check is imperfect. It may miss subtle distress signals or misinterpret slang, sarcasm, or frustration. It is not a clinician or a monitoring service.

In any genuine emergency, call 911 immediately. Do not wait for BalanceBoard to respond.

4. Resource-Only Automated Safety Response

BalanceBoard does not staff a crisis-monitoring service, determine whether a person is safe, dispatch help, or automatically contact a parent, school, or emergency service. Its automated phrase check can only stop an AI request and display resource links. It may miss serious language or respond to non-crisis language.

If a person deliberately sends credible safety information to our support address, we may preserve and respond to it as permitted or required by applicable law. Email is not monitored as an emergency channel. Call 911 or 988 for immediate help.

5. Human and Legal Requests

We may preserve or disclose the minimum information required in response to valid legal process or a legal reporting duty. We do not promise that BalanceBoard can identify, investigate, or independently verify emergencies. Any human disclosure decision must be documented and limited to what the request or law requires.

6. Student Privacy in Safety Situations

BalanceBoard's current resource-only posture follows these principles:

The automated phrase check displays resources only; it does not create a case or contact another person
Wellness data, including mood, stress, and journal entries, is not available to schools, counselors, or parents through BalanceBoard
BalanceBoard does not retain a separate copy of text solely because the phrase check matched
Information deliberately sent to support may be disclosed only as described in the Privacy Policy and applicable law

7. Reporting Safety Concerns to Us

If you are concerned about another user's safety on BalanceBoard:

Immediate danger: Call 911 first. Then report to us.
Email: support@balanceboard.app. Email is not monitored as an emergency channel.

We cannot guarantee an email response time. For true emergencies, always contact professional services first.

Crisis Resources

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988

Available 24/7 — US

Crisis Text Line

Text HOME to 741741

Available 24/7 — US

Trevor Project

1-866-488-7386

LGBTQ+ youth support

Emergency Services

911

Immediate physical danger

SAMHSA Helpline

1-800-662-4357

Mental health & substance use

School Counselor

Your school office

During school hours