Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 May 2013
36. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she and or her Department has undertaken studies into the extent of the various forms of bullying affecting young persons; if she has in mind, the provision of specific policies to address this issue as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21807/13]
View answer195. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which her Department has studied the various forms of bullying most commonly identified in order of prevalence and age group; the extent to which she is in a position to address the issues arising with particular reference to putting place remedial measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22074/13]
View answer199. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which the various forms of bullying have been monitored as it affects children and young persons of various ages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22078/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 195 and 199 together.
My Department is committed to evidence-based policy development and a strong comprehensive research programme is in place; this includes funded research and capacity building programmes, as well as a research infrastructure and dissemination programmes. The National Strategy for Research and Data on Children’s Lives 2011-2016 sets out a comprehensive action plan for research and data on children’s lives in Ireland and proposes a systematic, harmonised and coordinated approach across departments and agencies to achieve a better understanding of the factors influencing children’s lives.
There is a growing body of national and international evidence on the prevalence of bullying and its impact on our children and young people, on their confidence, learning outcomes, self-esteem and mental health. Two national surveys, which are Government funded, give us a national picture of the extent of bullying among children in Ireland.
The first, Growing Up in Ireland, the National Longitudinal Study of Children, which is funded through my Department, provides us with data on the proportion of nine-year olds who have been victims of bullying (40%) and with verbal bullying emerging as the most common form of bullying, followed by exclusion and physical bullying. Boys were more likely to have experienced physical and verbal bullying, while girls were more likely to have experienced exclusion. There was little difference in the proportion of boys and girls who were bullied through written messages and electronic means and these forms of bullying occurred much less frequently than the other forms in this age cohort. There was a clear overlap between children who had bullied another and children who had been victimised – these children are classified as bully victims and constituted 10% of nine-year-olds.
The second national survey, the Health Behaviour of School Aged Children (HBSC) survey, also provides us with important data on this issue. Since 1998, the HBSC survey, which is conducted every four years, provided us with trends in the proportion of children between the ages of 9 and 17 who report that they were bullied at school. Given that this is part of an international study, we can also compare rates of bullying in Ireland with rates of bullying in other countries. The latest international comparisons revealed that rates of bullying in Ireland were lower than the HBSC average (27.3% versus 29.2%). Statistically significant differences were observed across age and gender, with a higher percentage of younger children and boys reporting that they were bullied at school in the past couple of months.
Internationally, a recent EU study to examine the safety of children on the internet found that 4% of children between the ages of 9 and 16 in Ireland experienced online bullying compared with an EU average of 6%. This finding is also supported by the "Growing up in Ireland" research which showed that 5% of 9 year olds experienced cyber-bullying. However, UNICEF’s recently published “Child Well being in Rich countries” (Report Card 11) highlighted a rise in bullying among Irish young people; the report stated that 28% of children in Ireland aged 11, 13 and 15 reported “being bullied at school at least once in the past couple of months.” These reports, which are available in full online, are indicative of the wealth of research on Irish children’s lives and experiences now accessible to Irish policy-makers.
The Deputy will be aware that ongoing work to implement the Action Plan on Bullying, which is being led by the Department of Education and Skills, represents a significant step in delivering on the Government’s absolute commitment to reverse these current trends. To achieve this we must work with a broad base of interests to tackle the underlying causes of bullying, including prejudice in all its forms, in a sustained manner. The Action Plan on Bullying was produced earlier this year following detailed consideration of available evidence and research on bullying. The Working Group consulted with leading academics in the field of bullying and reviewed the current best practices in bullying prevention in other jurisdictions, to develop the series of specific evidence based actions and recommendations outlined within the Action Plan. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the actions set out in the Plan are being progressed by the relevant sectors.
In terms of additional research, this includes new research on the prevalence and impact of bullying linked to social media on the mental health and suicidal behaviour among young people through the National Office for Suicide Prevention. The National Disability Authority has also agreed to conduct and support research on effective supports for children with special educational needs. In addition, my Department, along with the Department of Education and Skills, has agreed to identify and initiate further research on bullying issues as our resources permit, including the monitoring and evaluation of initiatives in schools and other sectors in order to support evidence for further policy development and decision making. This will be considered in future calls for proposals under the National Children's Research Programme.
My Department will continue to work across all sectors and services to raise awareness about bullying, its impact on children and young people and the effective measures to be taken to tackle prejudice, combat bullying and promote a safer environment for our young people.
