Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the issues that has been discussed at this committee, and which we have done much work on in recent months, is about having an online safety commissioner. All witnesses raised this issue because bullying has changed over the years and it has increasingly gone online. Hugh outlined, from his experience, how bullying can affect a student. Would he welcome having an online safety commissioner? How would it work with all the social media companies that are out there? I have some anecdotal experience of what happens on those platforms.

Are there many students who never admit that they have been bullied? This could be because they do not want to let their guard down, they do not want to admit it. Perhaps they think they are tougher than what they actually are. However, it affects them in later years because they did not seek help when they should have. Can Hugh comment on those two issues?

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