Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Cybersecurity for Children and Young Adults: Discussion (Resumed)

1:30 pm

Dr. Mary Aiken:

There is a point on education. When we consider matters in society, we do not solely rely on education. We have tried education for a decade or 15 years but it is clearly not working, as evidence indicates that problems are getting worse for young people. We must say that education has a role but we do not solely speak of education when it comes to the likes of a smoking ban. We do not just speak of education when it comes to underage drinking. We have multi-strand approaches to the problem space. One could say to kids all day long not to climb a tree as they might fall and be hurt.

It is definitively not going to stop them. Knowing that they can fall from a tree will not stop them trying to climb it.