Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 231: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which she has been in contact with or received communication from various schools throughout County Kildare or the country in general, in regard to incidents of school bullying; if specific initiatives are contemplated to address this serious issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22123/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I share the Deputy's concern that any child would feel upset in school because of bullying and I assure him that supports are in place to enable schools both to prevent bullying and to deal with cases that may arise.

For a start, each school is required to have in place a policy which includes specific measures to deal with bullying behaviour, within the framework of an overall school Code of Behaviour and Discipline. Such a code, developed through consultation with the whole school community and properly implemented, can be the most influential measure in countering bullying behaviour in schools.

My Department has issued guidelines as an aid to schools in devising measures to prevent and deal with instances of bullying behaviour and to increase awareness among school management authorities of their responsibilities in this regard. These guidelines were drawn up following consultation with representatives of school management, teachers and parents, and are sufficiently flexible to allow each school authority to adapt them to suit the particular needs of their school.

My Department, through the National Centre for Technology in Education has also developed Policy Guidelines and Advisory Notes for schools and parents which deal with the issues of internet and mobile phone bullying.

I wish to draw the Deputy's attention to the "think b4 u click" internet safety campaign. This new campaign seeks to raise awareness and promote safe, responsible practice by young people when online.

The campaign has a strong peer-to-peer perspective and centres on an interactive online service, www.watchyourspace.ie developed by the National Centre Technology in Education (NCTE).

This site offers practical tips and advice and supports teenagers who use the web. A key feature is the advice given from teenagers to teenagers on how to cope with the fall-out from abuses and misuse of social networking and picture -sharing websites.

This new initiative perfectly compliments the other NCTE safety activities that are already up and running successfully such as Webwise, SAFT and the Once projects.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) is at present developing further guidelines for schools on Codes of Behaviour, as provided for under section 23 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. Work on the guidelines is at an advanced stage and has been informed by broad consultation. It is envisaged that these guidelines will be made available to schools in the current school year.

Once the NEWB Guidelines are in place, my Department will commence the process of revising and updating its own "Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour". This review will take into account issues such as legislative developments, the involvement of the support services available to schools, technological advancements such as use of the Internet, e-mail, mobile phones and camera phones and the latest developments in International best practice on dealing with bullying behaviour.

Through the combined work of the Department, the NCTE and the NEWB schools will have available to them extensive guidance to enable them fulfil their responsibilities in relation to this issue.

The Deputy may also be interested to know that dealing with bullying has also been incorporated in training for Principals through the Leadership Development for Schools programme.

I have also stressed to the teacher unions the importance of not just having a written policy on bullying but also ensuring a climate in which it is not tolerated in any form and in which children know that if they make a teacher aware of bullying that it will be dealt with.

The Deputy will also be aware that the education of students in both primary and post-primary schools in relation to anti-bullying behaviour is part of the SPHE curriculum. SPHE is now a compulsory subject both at primary level and in the junior cycle of post-primary schools.

In relation to the Deputy's query about reports to my Department, there is no requirement for schools to report incidents of bullying to my Department, nor do I believe that this should be the case. Responsibility for tackling bullying naturally falls to the level of the individual school as it is at local level that an effective anti-bullying climate must be established. I am, however, anxious to support schools in tackling bullying and it is for that reason that so many supports have been put in place in recent years.