Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 March 2013
114. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills the measures he is taking to ensure that incidents such as those that occurred on Facebook, affecting a member of teaching staff in a school (details supplied), in County Limerick do not recur; if he will financially support schools in this type of situation in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14557/13]
View answerIn general, incidents of the type referred to by the Deputy, are best dealt with in accordance with a school's code of behaviour and it is therefore important that a school's code of behaviour makes very clear the standards expected of pupils, including those relating to respecting school staff, and the actions that will be taken in the event of any breaches of the code.
The Education Welfare Act 2000 requires all schools to have in place a Code of Behaviour. The Act also requires that a school Code of Behaviour shall specify the standards of behaviour that shall be observed by each student attending the school, the measures that may be taken when a student fails or refuses to observe those standards and the procedures to be followed before a student may be suspended or expelled from the school concerned.
A school's code of behaviour must be drawn up in accordance with the guidelines of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). The NEWB guidelines make it clear that each school must have policies to prevent or address bullying and harassment and schools must make clear in their code of behaviour that bullying is unacceptable.
The Deputy will also be aware that on 29th of January last, Minister Fitzgerald and I published the Action Plan on Bullying which sets out twelve actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. I have ring-fenced €500,000 to support implementation of these actions this year. The Action Plan on Bullying states that children and young people who engage in bullying behaviour do not always intend to bully or recognise the potential negative impact of their words and actions on others. Therefore, central to promoting safer and appropriate use of the internet by young people is a strong commitment to changing behaviour and raising the knowledge, skills and attitudes around preventing, responding to and reporting cyber bullying incidents. Several actions in the Action Plan on Bullying will increase capacity in these areas.
Work will continue on implementing the Action Plan on Bullying in the coming months.
