Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I think so too. All forms of bullying can only be tackled effectively if the whole school community is involved. It is important we have students, parents, teachers, principals and boards of management working together. Adequate in-service training must be provided and offered. The easy bit is sending a group of teachers on a course and establishing an anti-bullying policy. The difficult part is engaging the whole school community in order that everyone feels they have ownership of the decisions made and have been included right from the start. Parents in particular need to have the tools to recognise the early signs that their child is being bullied or is the bully and to deal with it.

There is no doubt that parents and schools are struggling with the whole area of cyberbullying. I welcome the measures that are in place. When the Department of Education and Skills started to fund the Webwise integrated education initiative in 2006, the world was a very different place. Schools could put Internet safety controls in place on school equipment and block harmful content. At home, parents could do the same and keep a careful eye on the family computer. There was usually only one computer in the home and it sat in the middle of the living room or in a common area where everyone used it. Now, the Internet is on our phone 24-7 and there seems to be no way to get away from it. I cannot remember the last time I actually switched off my phone. Last night, I remarked to my own children that when we try to watch a programme on television, there is a constant click of texts being received. It is never ending.