Cyber bullying 'widespread' but parents kept in the dark
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PARENTS are in the dark about the scale of bullying in Irish schools, a landmark new study has found.
The survey -- the first of its kind to probe cyber bullying widely amongst schoolchildren in Ireland -- reveals widespread problems with every form of bullying and victimisation in our schools.
Around 30pc of students surveyed in the joint Irish Independent and and 'Prime Time Investigates' study confirmed that they have endured all types of bullying at secondary schools in the past couple of months.
Yet those who were targeted by cyber bullies rarely reported it to adults at school, with just 6pc doing so. They were more than twice as likely to do nothing at all.
Worryingly, one in 10 students now feels cyber bullying is "just part of life".
The mother of an 18-year-old girl who took her own life after enduring a sustained bullying campaign, including internet and mobile phone attacks, urged young people to inform their parents and adults if they are suffering.
Torment
The diary of Cork girl Leanne Wolfe, which was read by her devastated parents following her death, described the abuse and torment she had been suffering.
Her mother Colette yesterday said the victims of bullies are often too ashamed to say anything about the abuse.
"She was so ashamed it was unreal, we were heartbroken from reading her diary," Mrs Wolfe told the Irish Independent.
She said the bullying that Leanne suffered had progressed from name calling to rumours and physical abuse before her death. She was also targeted through cyber-bullying on her social networking site and through her mobile phone.
On the day she died an abusive message was left on her phone. "They called her a prostitute and a whore and they were coming down to pound her face," her mother said.
"Something has to be done. I'll never be able to bring Leanne back but I have grandchildren coming up," she said, suggesting legislators take a strict view of bullying and incorporate it in law.
The National Parents' Council's Rose Tully urged parents to be vigilant for signs their son or daughter is being bullied.
Frank McDaid from the National Parents Association for vocational schools and community colleges said cyber-bullying was very subtle and could be "above some parents heads".
"It can come into people's bedrooms at night through text messages," he said.
Responsibility
Primary school principal, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, warned it was important for schools to have acceptable usage policies to tackle cyber bullying on sites but the "ultimate responsibility" lies with parents.
John White, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI), said it was "worrying" that only a low number of pupils had reported they had informed adults of the bullying.
"Teachers are very conscious that there is a problem and a new mode through which this problem is expressed is the internet and mobile phone," he said.
A "culture" must be created where the entire community -- from schools, teachers, parents and pupils -- accept bullying exists and agrees it is unacceptable, he said.
"The Department of Education, in terms of resourcing schools, has to take into account the new modes of bullying," he said.
However, Mr White said the pressures placed on schools were not taken into account in staffing levels.
Hi-tech revolution a blessing and a curse: analysis - page 21
- Louise Hogan
