Dr. Claire Hayes:

When I was a student, research was carried out which showed that if one was going to have an accident or a heart attack, it was better to do it with one or two people around. If one has a heart attack in a crowded street, people will feel reluctant to assist because of their sense of inadequacy or the thought that others will do it better. There is something to be said about the notion that we are less likely to stand up if there is a crowd but, like anything, that can be changed.

On parents, my experience is that they do their best 99.9% of the time with the resources and information they have. It is important to support parents to know what is and is not appropriate. While parents may not have their children eating sweets at 1 a.m. in their bedroom, they may be less aware of what is going on with technology. It is a huge thing that has taken hold in our society and it can be extremely detrimental. However, it is out there and children have phones. It is about teaching them and teaching parents to teach them to use them responsibly. It is about supporting parents. It it is not about whipping or blaming. It is about understanding. If we come back to what bullying is, it is bullying behaviour treating other people with disrespect. People might do that from a sense of fear from themselves. From my experience of parents who shine the bullying lens on other children or other parents, often it is because of their own experience. They are determined their children will not experience the lives and the difficulties they had. It is about support.