Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2013
138. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made following the introduction of the action plan on bullying in view of the anniversary of the death of two young girls who were victims of cyberbullying through a website (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48176/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork is progressing well on the implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying, which I published in January 2013 with my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The Action Plan sets out twelve actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in all schools. These actions focus on support for schools, teacher training and awareness raising and aim to ensure that all forms of bullying, including cyber bullying, are addressed.
In September, I launched new National Procedures on Anti Bullying which will be adopted and implemented by all schools. The new procedures include a specific reference to cyber bullying. I have also made available funding for anti-bullying training for parents which is being run jointly by the National Parents Council (primary and post primary).
My Department has supported awareness raising initiatives, including Safer Internet Day 2013, an initiative on cyber bullying targeted at young people, which will be repeated in 2014.
In addition, the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) has commissioned research which is currently in progress on the prevalence and impact of bullying linked to social media on mental health and suicidal behaviour among young people.
Central to promoting safer 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. The continued implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying will increase capacity in these areas and build on my Department's current strategy to ensure that internet safety is mainstreamed throughout schools' teaching, learning and other practices. Resources are available on www.webwise.ie and include guidelines on developing Acceptable Use Policies.
