Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Smoking kills, drugs kill and bullying kills. Cat Cora is right. She said, "Bullying is killing our kids. Being different is killing our kids and the kids who are bullying are dying inside. We have to save our kids whether they are bullied or they are bullying. They are all in pain".

To the extent that this Bill furthers the debate on bullying, I welcome the Deputy's genuine work. However, having vast experience as a teacher and principal, I disagree with fundamental elements of it. The Bill proposes to make one person on a board of management responsible for designing and implementing what is described as counter-measures to bullying. This is flawed. It is not in line with national and international best practice and is totally at variance with the whole-school approach. To counter bullying in a school every member of the board of management, teaching staff and administrative and ancillary staff has a responsibility for the children in the school, not just one member of the board of management.

My main issue with the proposal is that it is unambitious. Anti-bullying policies in our schools must be innovative and forward thinking. The legislation before us falls short, and our children deserve better. The anti-bullying forum will report this week and €500,000 has been provided to give practical support to schools and teachers. Existing guidelines in schools are not appropriate and the Minister has promised to address these guidelines in respect of cyber and homophobic bullying.

Greater responsibility must also be put on parents' shoulders. As parents, we must stop being so naive. Children tell innocent white lies all the time. Some children tell white lies about the amount of homework they have, some tell them about finishing their chores and some will tell them about their on-line activity. I had the opportunity in the recent past to sit in on an anti-bullying workshop by 60 14 year old pupils. I have heard students say publicly in their classroom that they visit paedophile sites for fun and because they are bored. As a former school principal, I advise parents to befriend their children on-line, to be vigilant and to know what their child is doing on-line. Ignorance is bliss but it can be fatal when it comes to bullying. Last year, 2012, brought that reality firmly into focus.

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