Dr. Seline Keating:

The Deputy raised one of the most important issues, which is defining bullying. From my own experience of being a primary school teacher, before I began work in DCU, bullying can be a buzzword and is often used incorrectly. One of the key steps that schools have to take is to have a clear definition of bullying. Its three features are repetition, the imbalance of power and the intent to hurt someone. It is important when working with pupils and adolescents that they know the difference between having a laugh and slagging, and when that moves into the realm of being bullying behaviour. Pupils are sometimes unaware that they are actually bullying. We need to be clear in our definition and make it accessible to parents. The definition should not be too wordy. It should be in language friendly to pupils, adolescents and parents. I spoke earlier about parental involvement. There is not a one size fits all approach to get parents involved. Schools have to be adaptable and flexible. They know the community that their school is positioned in. One has to give schools some agency in how to approach this.

It involves giving guidelines regarding approaches that are inclusive of parents so that they are not just listening and being told what to do but are part of the conversation, can ask questions and get some type of training. This training should be provided at times that are flexible such as at the morning drop-off time, rather than during the evening after a day of work. It involves utilising and optimising Zoom and online platforms to allow parents to connect in from home and still be part of anti-bullying prevention and intervention. We need to look at different models because one size may not fit all. We need options for schools so that they can choose those that suit the needs of the communities in which they operate, which is really important.