Professor James O'Higgins Norman:

Exactly as Senator Mullen has already said very well, the predominant peer culture among children and adolescents in schools is influenced by their families and parents, wider media and so on. In our current context, those who are going against the grain are standing out and they will then be more likely to be targets for bullying whether that is for religious or other reasons. Fifteen or 20 years ago we were talking about homophobic bullying and how it was a focus of bullying in schools and a great concern for everyone and now today here we are talking about the possibility that children who practise a religion might be the ones who are targeted for bullying. As Senator Mullen said, the situation changes and moves. There is something fundamental underneath all of that which we must address in terms of the implementation of an inclusion and diversity policy and curricula that promote inclusion, whether it is somebody who is practising a religion or somebody who is not or whatever other diversity issue might be involved.