Mr. John Curtis:

It is nice to see the Chairman again, albeit remotely. I thank her for her kind opening remarks.

The Joint Managerial Body welcomes the Oireachtas joint committee’s focus on the topic of bullying and mental health and is grateful for this opportunity to present an opening statement on behalf of the organisation. Our position is that student bullying, and its impact on mental health, can only be addressed when our anti-bullying policies are schoolwide, SPHE-driven and properly resourced. There is no silver bullet which will resolve the problem of bullying in schools. We need every single person in the school to attack the problem from every possible aspect every single day.

Anti-bullying policies in our schools reflect this schoolwide approach. I will take one example, which is a live anti-bullying policy in one of our schools. That policy states our aim is to provide an environment in which all can teach, learn and work, free from intimidation. It also states we will achieve this by: ensuring all parents-guardians have access to this policy prior to commencing school; assigning a teacher to lead the anti-bullying ambassadors; introducing initiatives on how to recognise and deal with bullying; placing an emphasis on inclusion by meitheal leaders in their work with first year students, emphasising inclusion and awareness of bullying in the school environment by prefects in their work; including bullying in the code of behaviour and in school journals; educating students through the SPHE and Wellbeing programme at junior cycle regarding bullying in all its forms, including cyberbullying, homophobic and transphobic bullying; educating students through the relationship and sexuality education programme by providing opportunities to explore and discuss areas such as human sexuality and relationships, which have particular relevance to identity based bullying; ensuring that within the teaching of all subjects there is an attitude of respect for all to promote the value of diversity, to address prejudice and stereotyping and to highlight the unacceptability of bullying behaviour; ensuring appropriate supervision of students; providing an anonymous comment box for general use, including bullying issues; and ensuring bystanders understand the importance of telling if they witness or know that bullying is taking place.

Meanwhile, the recently published OECD report Education at a Glance ranks Ireland in last place out of 36 countries for investment in second level education as a percentage of gross domestic product, GDP. The Department repeatedly sets out high demands for schools in respect of anti-bullying measures but clearly the State is neglecting its responsibility to provide its schools with the resources we need to tackle bullying effectively and to support positive mental health development in our students.

Our schools have been doing more with less since the financial crash of 2009. In particular, schools have had reduced allocations of teachers and guidance counsellors which have not been restored. Yet, our teacher workforce numbers have increased. This is due to significant student population growth but at school level, the cuts in staffing have never been fully restored.

What we would ask for is the following; we need our year heads and student support teams to have time for duties, ring-fenced and allocated for; our guidance and counselling provision fully restored; a full deputy principal in every school; to invest in team teaching and greater learning support for students with special educational needs; teacher training and ongoing expert advice, particularly on empowering students to speak out; leadership development on schoolwide approaches that work; free up time for the necessary in-school group meetings involved, particularly regarding teachers investigating incidents of bullying; our schools will always face the challenge of bullying and, among other actions, every school continues to review its existing policies in line with the Department’s anti-bullying procedures from2013; ensure its SPHE programme is well developed and well delivered; provide teacher professional development on anti-bullying strategies; and provide for parent and student support in tackling online bullying in particular.

The mental health of our young people has never been at greater risk. We must now invest in giving schools the resources they need to support this uniquely challenged generation.

In my opening statement, I have amplified our original submission to the Oireachtas in February. I will make two further points to follow up on some contributions at earlier meetings. We need exemplification of best practice from schools in other jurisdictions. We also need external supports in terms of facilitating an ongoing voice for leaders in our schools.