Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I understand perfectly that people can become quite upset when they see horrendous things happening in their communities. I think we have all had that experience. I accept fully that there is a genuine concern in this whole area. The Deputy and I know that when a young person - a ten year old, a 14 year old or a 16 year old - is being bullied online, it usually involves someone else in his or her peer group. I am not certain about what can be done if a 12 year old or a 14 year old is bullying a ten year old. Education is the way forward if young people are to recognise that when they push the button to send something, it might disappear from their screens but that does not necessarily mean it has no consequences for the person who receives it or for the person who sent it. I am not certain about how to deal with that other than by educating young people not to be bullies, regardless of whether that bullying takes place face to face or online. It is a question of education. While I do not share the Deputy's view that there is, as he termed it, an epidemic, in this regard, I agree with him that if one child is damaged as a consequence of this type of action, it is one child too many. Regardless of whether it is my child or someone else's child who is bullied, we know it causes a great deal of upset within a whole circle of people. There are ways of dealing with this activity. If it is not this today, it will be something else tomorrow. It has to be about education. The Deputy is quite right to say that is not just about schools or friends. It is equally about parental responsibility. Most parents are not as au fait with the whole online sphere as their children. I am not. I do not think any of my friends are as up to date on these matters as their children. There is definitely a great deal of work to be done in this area from an educational perspective. We need to point out to people who engage in this activity that their actions have consequences and that those consequences are sometimes fatal for the person who is being bullied.

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