Dáil debates

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Bullying in Schools

2:50 pm

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she and her Department have received any report or feedback from the Department of Education and Skills on the reception of or reaction to the publication of the Action Plan on Bullying by school principals or teachers; if during the almost three months since its publication any further consideration has been given to its pro-active promotion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17435/13]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying, which is being led by the Department of Education and Skills, is an important step in the Government’s absolute commitment to working with a broad base of interests to protect children and ensure a safer childhood.

I understand that the plan has been well received by the education partners, including school management bodies, teacher unions, principals’ groups and parent representative groups. It has been welcomed publicly by a number of these key stakeholders. My own daily contact with organisations, young people and their families throughout the country suggests a positive response to the need for this strategic focus. The results from the recent UNICEF report were quite disturbing concerning the levels of bullying here, although Ireland fared well on other criteria.

The actions set out in the action plan are being progressed. To successfully tackle the underlying causes of bullying behaviour we must ensure all relevant policies and services are fully engaged with this agenda. It is not a stand-alone issue. For example, initiatives such as the new Well-being in Post-Primary Schools: Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention, are addressing the issue of bullying in schools. As the Deputy may know, an additional €500,000 has been allocated to the education Vote to supplement the existing resources within the system dedicated to the welfare of our young people.

Since the action plan was published a number of initiatives have been rolled out. The first campaign was launched as part of EU Safer Internet Day in February and the Government supported a national anti-cyber bullying media campaign specifically targeted at young people. The second campaign, which I launched on 6 March, was the "Stand Up!" awareness week against homophobic bullying in second level schools. That was organised by BeLongTo youth services and was a key action point of the plan.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I have to interrupt the Minister.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I was happy to be able to support the work of BeLongTo by increasing its resources for 2013 in order to do this type of work in its local groups throughout the country. The funding I have made available to those youth services will ensure that BeLongTo's local and regional work will continue. That is very much part of the action plan on bullying.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

Although schools have a lead role in tackling bullying the plan recognises the need to have a broader approach recognising that bullying is no longer limited to classrooms. This means making sure that wherever young people are, they are protected by safety guidelines. It means making sure that wherever young people are, they are supported by an anti-bullying ethos and an anti-bullying framework.

The development of an anti-bullying framework is being prioritised in the context the new whole of Government children and young people’s policy framework. This work is being led by my Department with a view to publication later this year.

My Department is also working to place the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing. Within this process we will explore any additional clarifications that may be required to assist schools in their response to bullying.

I understand that work is also under way in the Department of Education and Skills on developing new anti-bullying procedures for schools in consultation with the education partners with a view to their introduction from next September. The Department will also be engaging with boards of management and parents in relation to co-ordinated training and resources development and will this year develop an evaluation of bullying in schools, which will be carried out by the schools inspectorate from 2014.

The action plan itself provides for a number of awareness raising measures, including the development of an anti-bullying website to provide a single point of access to practical advice and support in tackling and reporting bullying behaviours. Preliminary scoping work is underway in the Department of Education and Skills towards this development.

Organisations and schools throughout the country are running anti-bullying campaigns and transition year students continue to pioneer student-led projects aimed at combating bullying and cyber-bullying. My Department will continue to support the efforts of these projects and of teenagers who want to play a leading role in the national campaign against bullying.

Corporations are also playing their part. I recently organised a number of information nights for parents, teachers and youth workers which were supported by Webwise and Facebook. IBM has just launched free activity kits on cyber bullying, online identity and Internet safety coaching. I hope that companies such as these will support the development of the Government website which will draw together information from various sources in a user-friendly one-stop-shop for parents, teachers, youth workers and teens.

The anti-bullying agenda is a recurring element in all our consultations with young people. Notably, the majority of the 34 Comhairle na nÓg initiatives funded by my Department have identified mental health services, cyber-bullying and homophobic bullying as priority issues for young people. In response, this has led to a number of targeted measures being adopted by service providers across the country.

In recognising the lead role of schools, the National Education Welfare Board has issued guidelines requiring each school to have dedicated policies to prevent or address bullying. Schools must make it clear in their code of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable.

This issue of bullying requires a whole of Government and whole of community approach. I am pleased to see national organisations such as Foróige and the GAA running anti-bullying campaigns that complement the work of Government Departments.

As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I am committed to working with my colleagues in Government, and other stakeholders, to ensure that integrated policy responses to combat bullying are high on our agenda.

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The definition in the action plan states that bullying is not just about any kind of injury or negative impact, it involves a particular kind of harm. It is aimed at engendering a kind of helplessness or inability to act or do anything. I agree with that definition but it is also about the humiliation and subjugation of the target, which invariably has life-long consequences.

The scourge of bullying is not only as prevalent today as it was in my school years in the 1950s and 1960s, but I fear that it is even more in evidence now. I am greatly concerned about what we do not see or know because cyber-bullying can often be a hidden act. Lives are not only blighted and in some cases seriously impacted upon by school years' bullying but we also know - only too sadly - that some lives have been tragically lost.

I referred to school years' bullying as against school attendance bullying and there is more than a subtle difference.

It is important to recognise the school environment offers an important opportunity to address this scourge whether it occurs in the classroom, the schoolyard or any other setting - and invariably it does occur in other settings. While the Minister has responded to my question by advising there has been a good and positive response, I must tell her with some regret that in seeking to have matters addressed in this area, I have encountered a defensiveness and a reluctance to accept on the part of some senior educators. There almost is a sense that in some way this is a negative reflection on the school although no such thing is intended by me or anyone else in trying to have this dreadful scourge addressed. I believe more work is required and am fully supportive of the action plan of what is sought to be achieved by the Minister for Education and Skills with the support of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, as well as that of Members. However, I ask that the reality be faced up to. It is because it is not as bright or as certain as the Minister's reply suggests that I felt obliged to reflect this in the Chamber today and to ask the Minister to take this on board and to examine how it can be addressed.

3:00 pm

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge. The Deputy has outlined how hidden bullying has been in the past and how facing up to it in schools, for example, can be quite challenging for them. A school sometimes may even feel ashamed it is happening in that school and this probably has been the traditional attitude, which is what we must change. Work is under way in the Department of Education and Skills on developing new anti-bullying procedures for schools in consultation with the education partners with a view to their introduction from September. I believe this will make a difference and that Department also will engage with the boards of management and parents on co-ordinating training and the resources needed by boards of management to create that greater understanding to which the Deputy referred and to give people the tools to deal with bullying in their schools. Moreover, the schools inspectorate will develop an evaluation of bullying in schools from 2014. There is a range of initiatives and the Deputy is familiar with the commitment of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, to dealing with this issue. He and I held the first stakeholder meeting with all the NGOs that are working in this area. Work also is under way in developing a single website that will contain all the details about who is working in this area. The Department of Education and Skills is leading on that initiative and my Department is contributing to it. Consequently, I accept the Deputy's point that this is an extremely serious issue. While there is perhaps more action and activity in challenging it now than ever before, I totally agree with the Deputy there is no room for complacency.

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Members received a briefing in the AV room on this area towards the latter end of 2012, which was attended by a former school principal from a county neighbouring the city of Dublin, whose contribution was very informative. It demonstrated, which I fear may be the reality, that in the main it is down to the penchant of the principal and the other senior players within a respective school environment. This cannot be so, as challenging bullying must be a shared and accepted responsibility across the board because it is an integral part, in respect of those who are targeted and those who are carrying out this offensive behaviour, of preparing them all for life and must be seen within the overall context of that preparation. My own observations are that it is not as universally embraced as it needs to be and I therefore take this opportunity to advise the Minister of this and to encourage the greatest proactivity and the realisation of the warmest embrace possible of what must now be done.

3:05 pm

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate it is a scourge that destroys lives. It also undermines people's confidence and ability to learn and even to engage with life. I accept what the Deputy says. Many initiatives are needed to deal with it. The recent UNICEF report was very worrying as it highlighted very high levels of bullying in Ireland compared with some other countries. The guidelines issued by the National Educational Welfare Board that require each school to have dedicated policies to prevent or address bullying are important. Schools must make it clear in their codes of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable. However, what the Deputy is highlighting is the gap that can sometimes occur between the theory and the practice. We must ensure the practice lives up to what is outlined in our action plan and in the guidelines being issued to schools by the Department of Education and Skills. I believe there is greater awareness but there still is a great deal more work to be done.