Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Downes and Professor Cefai spoke of the need for parent education and collaboration in tackling bullying. The principal networks from primary and post-primary levels were before the committee last week.

I asked them a similar question. The representatives from both primary and post-primary spoke about the difficulty of engaging with parents. They outlined how meetings may be open, public, face to face or on Zoom, but it is always the same parents and guardians who attend them. Often, the parents the teachers really want to reach do not attend these meetings, whether they are about education or whatever. This question has been asked in different ways during this meeting and previous meetings, but I would be interested in hearing our three guests' thoughts on it. Is there a way to ensure that parents will concentrate on this issue? I refer both to the parents of a bully and to those of a student who may be on the receiving end of bullying. It might be only in order to educate them.

Turning to cyberbullying, no longer does the bullying stop in school, as it may have 15 or 20 years ago. Now it comes home with the student, through Snapchat and all the other social media platforms.