Forgive me if I am not as sharp as I might be. I am a victim of influenza at present.
To address Deputy Enright's remarks on the stay-safe programme, I have no problems with that programme. All the programmes have a valuable role to play. The problem is that there may not be enough effort to try to look at all the different models and get the best out of them. We are introducing this and that model, whereas one should get the professionals together to see what is the best we can make out of this and proceed to make significant recommendations.
Stay-safe tends to start very early; there is a difficulty about the whole issue of telling. That is the most difficult nut to crack, and yet stay-safe tends to address the issue of learning to tell. Therefore, unless that is followed through in a clever way, it may possibly have certain disadvantages. It could be worked on, as it is playing a valuable role.
In terms of the IRCHSS, which is the source of the funding that we have to extend the Donegal project, it was a lucky break. It can be very frustrating when trying to seek funding from the Department of Education and Science, and the funding is not provided. Even though Ireland has the advantage of being pioneering, with expertise, and could be leading the field internationally, one feels very held back.
On that project, the 168 schools have not been chosen yet. The whole idea is that we will have another nationwide effort to create a baseline which will address the incidents once again. To address the question on the definition, the definition that was in the guidelines for 1993 is an excellent one and I was part of the guideline process. Essentially, the definition is repeated aggression, verbal, psychological or physical, conducted by an individual or a group against others. They go on to say that isolated incidents of aggressive behaviour which should not be condemned can scarcely be described as bullying. However, when the behaviour is systematic and ongoing it is bullying. That is the definition that is given to children when one seeks to discover the incidents level.
There is a whole area here that we have to look at again. I have written a paper for the European Union. The problem with redefining bullying is that if one is trying to educate children about bullying, and yet it is repeated aggression, where then are all the opportunities to catch them when they are involved in aggressive acts which are totally inappropriate and unacceptable? Here is where children and teachers could say that it is not bullying and does not need to be addressed. In a sense, we should widen the net and talk about aggressive, violent behaviour. We should possibly be looking at a redefinition to catch all aggressive behaviours. We would then have the opportunity to educate children in what is inappropriate behaviour and not just focus on what is, perhaps, repeated aggressive behaviour.
The whole idea of extending the Donegal model through Ireland is to target each of the education centres, of which there are 22. We would seek, through advertising, to have potentially two trainers from each of those areas, one each from primary and post-primary. We will then have a network of 44 trainers, each of whom will be given the responsibility of doing in-service work with four schools, which will increase the total to 166 schools.
This is a big issue. We have all the information and are now working on updating our packs for parents and teachers. What this country and this project badly needs is a video that the teachers can use as an ice breaker when creating awareness in their classroom. Some teachers are not comfortable when approaching these subjects. They need a video which is skilled and professional. Windmill Lane Studios is standing ready to do this but I cannot get approval from the Department of Education and Science. If the Department would only tell me that it is not giving me the money I could organise a flag day or a coffee morning and get the money, perhaps through private sponsorship, to develop what is critical to a very good programme. That is what was lacking in the Donegal model; there was no video with Irish voices that the teachers could use.
The Donegal model will be extended into post-primary schools and primary schools and be re-evaluated. At the end of this project we will have a very good result on which to base a full scale national project. I am desperate. If any of the members of the committee have any influence it would be useful to help us get the go-ahead on this video. It is not costly and the budget is with the Department. That might explain the 166 schools.
Carrying out a new nationwide survey will get us a new register of incidents, which will be ten years further on, and should prove interesting. Our earlier nationwide effort was 1993 to 1994. We will now have the new one produced, so we will be getting the list of incidents and be basing it on the more repeated definition. It is not that it is going to gain the children; one will get the sense that this is repeated violence.
Deputy Enright mentioned the structures of management and how they deal with victim and bullying problems. Through the anti-bullying centre we hear a lot of sad stories. We hear from parents, in particular, who have tried desperately. We hear from teachers too, because school is a workplace and bridges the gap between school bullying and workplace bullying. I find it is unnecessary to take a defensive stance. There is something to be said for nipping the problem in the bud and dealing with it. We are not all perfect and none of us is an angel all the time. If there is an understanding and a readiness to address the issues, people are often just looking for an apology for a mistake. This openness and readiness to deal with the problem will only come with that further education and awareness that takes the shame out of it and deals with it as a problem.
E-bullying is a real issue. It is one of the ways in which children are now getting at each other. Even on the Internet, they can put up a child's name and somebody can simply send all the hurtful messages. In terms of our education package and the Donegal model, which we will extend, it will become one of the awareness raising issues that will be incorporated for the teachers to work with. The teachers will have every opportunity to try to develop an understanding amongst the children.
I have, perhaps, addressed Deputy Andrew's question on the nature of bullying. The programme that is now running in Norway which they have named "zero", because it is essentially zero tolerance, has not got any figures yet, as they are now carrying out the evaluation that we have done in Donegal. It is our positive results that allowed them to move with their zero programme. It is originating from what is called the behavioural research centre at Stavanger university college. They are very heavily funded - which is different from our situation - and the government is funding them to deliver this programme nationally, as a result of the Donegal result, which has already hit the headlines over there.
Deputy Crowe raised the issue of the participants role. It is important to have a national programme that allows every child, parent and teacher to have the basic understanding of what is involved. We must work on the whole area of peer pressure and self-esteem. Finnish research has shown that children with good self-esteem are not bullies. They can stand up and be helpful to victims and perhaps intervene in some form. Our research in Ireland has been ground-breaking because we have shown that the children who bully have feelings of inadequacy. I know that legislators are not prepared to readily accept the idea. We must recognise that bullies are unhappy and displace a lot of emotion. They often need a psychological approach to their problem which should be more rehabilitative rather than a punitive one. All professions need a lot of understanding if they are to get the problem sorted. Prevention is better than a cure. Children need assistance when they are young and during their formative years. If one had to choose at what level to introduce a national programme then we would target the very young so that we reach young children and their parents. Education would move along. We would prefer to deal with soft cases rather than hard ones. A programme would have the greatest impact at primary level.
There is not a greater risk of bullying in smaller schools. The nationwide study in 1993 showed that, if anything, it was the smaller post-primary schools that had the greater problems. International literature would support this finding. There is no such thing as the idyllic rural school. At post-primary level there is a greater opportunity for children to be set apart. In larger schools there is an opportunity for social groups. If a child is a swot or the so-called nerd they will find similar groups in large schools. Children in small schools can feel more isolated. The same applies in rural Donegal. Children can be set apart and made to feel different.
Disadvantaged children and anyone different is more at risk of victimisation. Anybody can be targeted but it is how we deal with it that matters. Again, there will be children who are more at risk.
In programmes like the Donegal one there is an element of having to build on the need to develop tolerance, respect of individual differences and empathy. If we did that then all minority and at-risk children would be covered. This work is part of the whole package.
Building self-esteem is so critical and it is very important. We try to get that message through to our student teachers. At all times they must be conscious of the self-esteem of their pupils in all their dealings at all levels, particularly in the classroom. Again, the children will not display unhappiness outside of their classroom. If children leave the school gates happy they will not be elsewhere looking to see who they can get at. Self-esteem is critical for education. There is a greater acceptance and awareness of it at teacher training level. Perhaps we will see more caring and positive teachers in the future.
Deputy Stanton asked whether there were any long-term effects of victimisation. We must bear in mind that once a child is a victim they are not always a victim. There is research that shows that bullying has an adverse effect on children. One can pinpoint the children who are bullies and are unchallenged. Research can demonstrate that if these young offenders had somebody to take them aside and challenge their negative, inappropriate and bullying behaviour they would not have ended up as they did. It is recognised that most children who are young offenders engaged in bullying behaviour but did not have significant intervention. Stark statistics show the ill effects of allowing children to go through school bullying other children and thinking it is normal behaviour. They are being set up to be anti-social in adulthood. It is a vicious cycle because it also leads to domestic violence and the breakdown of families. Again, early intervention should take place and prevention is better than cure.
A victim's identity is totally damaged and low self-esteem is a major problem. Victims are left hearing negative inner voices which last a lifetime. If they hit a vulnerable patch they may suffer something equivalent to post-traumatic stress disorder and suffer flashbacks. It can push people over the edge and some have committed suicide. Victimisation is not the only reason for suicide but negative childhood memories can hit people very hard. If these same people meet negativity in adulthood it just adds to their problems.
Bullying is learned behaviour and that is the tragedy. Parenting programmes are equally critical. We have SPHE and CSPE. However, I believe that if we gave a parenting and psychology course to teenagers around transition year, or at the age they can become parents, it would help them to identify critical issues. They would have an opportunity to reflect on the practices they have been shown and they could modify them when they become parents.
There is enough written evidence to show that hostile-aggressive behaviour emanates from the home. However, the finding does not allow teachers off the hook. Again, if teachers reinforce inappropriate behaviour in the school then it does not counteract the negativity that some children experience in the home. We must examine parenting courses. My organisation has prepared leaflets on parenting and sent them to the parents participating in the Donegal project. It gave tips on parenting and helped participants understand how they could safeguard their children by giving them self-esteem and coping mechanisms that would withstand bullying and prevent their children becoming bullies. Equally the leaflets advise parents not to adopt a defensive stance because it does not do children any good by denying them the opportunity of getting professional help. This action would prevent long-term difficulties and prevent anti-social behaviour in adulthood.
Self-esteem is very important and we should concentrate on it. All of the things that I have mentioned are built into my organisation's information pack for the Donegal model. They are also built into the cool schools programme. Two good models should not compete with one another. If we can only proceed with one model then we will take the best from both of them and work together as professionals in a positive forward looking way.
There is a generation of guidance counsellors that are unaware of bullying and we need to provide them with in-service training. At present my education department at Trinity College is developing an in-service division. We hope all the trainers who are to be part of this extended Donegal model will ultimately receive accreditation in the form of a diploma in aggression studies. It is available to anybody. Equally, I strongly recommend that a group so critical in schools as career guidance counsellors should have an in-service facility, but provision should also be made for a pre-service facility.
What role does depression play in bullying? Again, it is a vicious circle because if one is depressed one will be vulnerable. Research shows that bullying causes depression because it involves a loss of self-esteem and confidence. One ends up in a black tunnel, particularly if one feels nobody will help one. Shame is also a factor. All the focus is on the victim but it should be on the perpetrator because if there were no perpetrators there would be no victims. There is no doubt that bullying leads to depression, and we know depression can lead to suicide. However, this is not to say there are no other factors involved. The depression due to victimisation, quite apart from what happens in the home or the neighbourhood, could be enough to tip one over the edge. If we can remove some of the factors we will make huge progress. I could dig up statistics on the extent to which children suffer from depression but we know there are significant differences in the depression levels of children who are bullied and those who are not.
What role do drugs play in bullying? Children might feel they are not part of a group and that they will not belong unless they take drugs or drink. In other words, it is a form of extortion. It is in the nature of bullying to force children to engage in many forms of anti-social behaviour. It is not just that bullies seek their victims' money or precious belongings but that they seek certain forms of behaviour from them. If they do not elicit this behaviour they threaten their victims. Kids who get caught up in drug abuse, etc., can be introduced to it as a form of bullying. The children who bully, because of their anti-social behaviour, can easily get involved themselves. The victims feel very vulnerable and if they can drown their sorrows in alcohol and drugs, they might do so. This again demonstrates the vicious circle and shows that any child can be targeted. Essentially, one's self-esteem is very damaged if one is bullied and if one is carrying the label that one is not liked, unless one has very strong parents and a very strong educational programme that teaches that the problem lies with the perpetrator rather than the victim.
The parent councils are doing considerable work and they invite speakers. Again, one of our problems is that we cannot meet all the needs that exist. My one plea to the Department of Education and Science is that it second teachers to us, particularly those who have been trained in this area and who can meet all the demands on the centre in terms of awareness raising. They could help to do outreach work. We receive telephone calls every day from teachers who want to increase awareness among pupils. This involves dealing with a class at a time and the staff room. However, we do not have enough staff to do this to the extent we desire, although we would love to be able to do so.