Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann- expresses deepest sympathies to the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives so tragically to suicide recently;
- recognises that tackling bullying in all its forms is a key objective of this Government;
- notes the existence of resources such as internetsafety.ie and webwise.ie, which have been produced to provide parents, teachers and students with Internet safety advice;
- acknowledges that the anti-bullying forum hosted by the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in May 2011 was the first of its kind in Ireland;
- further acknowledges the establishment of a working group which will produce an action plan on bullying for the Minister for Education and Skills in the coming weeks;
- welcomes the improvements which technology has brought to our lives, and the improved learning which takes place in our schools as a result;
- understands that parents, siblings, teachers, service providers of social media and the wider community all have a vital role to play in combating cyberbullying; and
- notes the intention of the Minister for Education and Skills to publish the action plan on bullying before Christmas.".

I again offer my deepest sympathy to all the families which have lost loved ones to suicide recently, particularly those who have been traumatised by cyberbullying, which may have influenced decisions at a crucial time. It is to be recognised and welcomed that in the programme for Government the issue of bullying in all its forms is listed as a high priority. At the same time the fact that it is included as a discrete area in the programme is significant in that it recognises bullying as an acute if not a chronic problem in our schools and our society.

While researching this topic I have been struck by the number of valuable resources available on the Internet. Nevertheless, the issue of bullying is a bit like the short story by Italo Calvino, "The Argentine Ant". Everybody had their own sovereign method of eradicating the problem of the infestation and each was tried in turn with great hopes of success but none worked. The fact that this story is an allegory for the Nazi occupation of Italy is also appropriate because bullying is also about power and the abuse of such power, insidious dehumanisation and destruction of personality. It is also very difficult to deal with it.

Professor Mona O'Moore of Trinity College Dublin, one of our foremost experts on bullying, has argued that we should take the shame from bullying, which is a complex statement. In other words, we should recognise bullying as a part of human nature. Most people have either bullied or been bullied at some stage, and some have experienced both. We should take that as a first principle and deal with the problem from that perspective. In that way parents, bullied persons and the bullies will be "freed from the burden of shame". This is theory, and it is difficult to see how parents or victims could muster that level of detachment in a crisis.

It is, therefore, necessary to have in place in schools well thought-out plans and policies. There is a statutory requirement for schools to have a code of discipline and a discrete policy on bullying. In this new scenario, there is a need for schools to update fully their plans and polices in this regard.

The Minister shares this view and that is why, on taking office, he hosted an anti-bullying forum in May 2012 , which was the first of its kind in Ireland, and subsequently established the working group to produce an action plan on bullying which I hope will report shortly.

Technology had brought great change into our lives in every sphere and most of that change has been for the good. It has greatly aided teaching and learning in schools. However, the newest form of bullying is known as cyberbullying, which refers to the bullying and harassment of others by means of new electronic technologies, primarily mobile phones and the Internet. It is emerging as a significant problem that can threaten the health, well-being and attainment of victims and adversely affect the climate of the peer group and ethos of the school. There is also the problem of "the digital divide" between young people and adults. Many parents feel helpless in dealing with this issue and limited in how they can support their child. Sometimes, the greatest fear of children is that their mobile phone may be taken away from them if they tell their parents, leading to further isolation and, therefore, they say nothing.

Another problem is that parents sometimes cannot accept that their child is a bully and rather than contact between parents being part of the solution, it becomes part of the problem. We have to explore how that can be changed. It is worth noting that two thirds of bullying is still attributable to traditional means. While we should focus on cyberbullying, we cannot engage in "the politics of the last atrocity" to quote John Hume. We must be proactive rather than reactive. It is essential, therefore, that a whole school approach to bullying be firmly adopted at the policy stage, which should include whole school fora. The Minister should suggest that to schools because sometimes the consultations on school policy, given the demands on schools, may not be as strong as they should be. In this instance, it is essential because bullying can comprise pupil on pupil, pupil on teacher, teacher on pupil and teacher on teacher. A range of issues need to be considered.

Bullying is one of the most difficult problems to deal with in schools. I found it one of the most difficult problems to get my head around as a school principal for 30 years. I do not in any way want to minimise how difficult the issue is to address but that does not mean we should fail to make every effort to have a new beginning to deal with bullying in schools. Most bullying happens outside school. It is both an innate and learned behaviour. I thank the Minister for coming to the House to debate this issue. I have great admiration for what he is doing in this regard. The more preventative measures that are implemented, the less bullying there will be. It is about policy, ethos and practice.