Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree. Parents have a responsibility to ensure and check that their child is safe. Cyberbullying is an entirely different monster from other forms of bullying because it does not disappear after school. It comes home with the child, is on the telephone and the Internet and, as my colleague described, becomes a type of cancer from which he cannot escape. I am sure the Minister never received a clip on the year from parents over anything. Previously, however, if someone reported to a parent that his or her child was bullying or misbehaving, that child would get a clip. Now it is a case of the parent saying it could not possibly happen. That, in itself, is a considerable issue. Parents must be held accountable.

We are discussing cyberbullying, parents' reactions and the call for action in the media. One particular company produced dedicated anti-bullying software that could be bought for children to prevent bullying online. It does not prevent bullying in school, but it has online capability. Despite this, the uptake was appallingly low. While there is a call to action and services have been put in place at much expense, parents across the country do not ensure the technology is used. It is in the Minister's gift to consider issuing a circular to schools stating we would prefer students and schools to have anti-bullying technology on their phones. Obviously, there are all sorts of EU regulations on monopolies to be considered, but the technology should be referred to in school policies. It is up to the principal to say that if a pupil has a phone, it should go into a bag and that if one does not have an anti-bullying device on it, it must not be brought into the school. There is nothing like a small carrot and stick to encourage students. Children with phones with anti-bullying technology would not be able to be bullied or to bully and those children without such phones would not be allowed to have them at school events or at anything to do with the school. In this way, irrespective of whether parents are active or inactive regarding school initiatives, progress could be ensured. As I know from having given talks in schools on drug and alcohol abuse, the most active parents are the ones who show up. The parents one really wants to see, whose children are probably the most vulnerable, are not the ones who show up. Preaching to the converted is never a great mission. I ask the Minister to address this point.

How many schools are there?