CYBER-BULLYING
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Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
CYBER-BULLYING IS NOT AN ISOLATED ACTIVITY
All bullying is deliberate, hurtful behaviour that is
repeated over time either in act or in impact
Cyber-bullying is just one particular form of bullying
behaviour targeting someone who is seen as vulnerable
Research shows that most of those who cyber-bully others
bully them by more traditional means first - they do both
The reason people cyber-bully is not because technology
makes them do it but because they choose to bully
someone and use this means to do it
ATTEMPTS TO DEAL WITH CYBER-BULLYING
ON A STAND-ALONE BASIS, WHILE HELPFUL,
WILL NOT PROTECT CHILDREN FROM BEING BULLIED.
CYBER-BULLYING
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
TRADITIONAL STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH BULLYING
HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL
30.2% of students (30.3% girls, 30.1% boys) reported that
they had been bullied in the previous couple of months.
24.9% of students (11.5% girls and 30.9% boys) reported
that they had taken part in the bullying of others at school.
(Anti-Bullying Centre, 2008).
55% of secondary school students have been bullied
UNICEF, 2012.
12% of ten-year-old children are bullied at least weekly
European Study, Irish Examiner, 2012
A DIFFERENT APPROACH IS NEEDED
TO DEAL WITH BULLYING, INCLUDING CYBER-BULLYING
CYBER-BULLYING
SOME PROACTIVE APPROACHES
THAT DID NOT WORK IN THE PAST
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
• Preparing an anti-bullying policy in accordance with the
Education Welfare Act 2000 - while necessary, there has been
no legal obligation to implement it
• Depending on SPHE and CSPE courses in schools to prevent
bullying - three 40min sessions once a year are not enough
• SPHE and CSPE cannot, and were never meant to deal with
and resolve bullying situations that occur
• Holding an “anti-bullying week” in school each year - this is
too soon forgotten
A PROACTIVE APPROACH THAT LACKS EFFECTIVE
IMPLEMENTATION CAN BE A CASE OF “TOO LITTLE”
CYBER-BULLYING
SOME REACTIVE APPROACHES
THAT DID NOT WORK IN THE PAST
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
• Expecting children who were bullied to “shape up,” become
more assertive, ignore the bullying or solve it themselves they already are or feel outnumbered and intimidated
• Ignoring the bullying in the hope it would stop - it usually
continues for long enough to do damage if it is not dealt with
• Punishing or threatening to punish perpetrators of bullying
behaviour - punishment is the foundation of the “no ratting”
culture, reducing the likelihood of reporting, and can lead to
a backlash that makes matters worse
A REACTIVE APPROACH TO BULLYING IS OFTEN INEFFECTIVE
AND FOR CYBER-BULLYING IS OFTEN A CASE OF “TOO LATE”
CYBER-BULLYING
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
AIMS ENSHRINED IN THE 1993 GUIDELINES POINT TO
AN EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM
The D.E.S. Guidelines aim to:
(a) “increase the awareness of bullying behaviour in the school
community as a whole . . .”
(b) “assist schools in devising school-based measures to
prevent and deal with bullying behaviour.
Reflecting this, a two-strand approach implemented by
teachers, that (a) empowers children to Recognise, Reject and
Report bullying behaviour and (b) uses a “Reform, not Blame”
approach to deal with incidents that arise, already exists, is free
of charge, has student support and has a very high success rate.
AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO DEAL WITH BULLYING
INCLUDING CYBER-BULLYING IS ALREADY AVAILABLE
CYBER-BULLYING
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
TO STOP BULLYING INCLUDING CYBER-BULLYING WE
NEED TO CHANGE THE ATTITUDE OF THE PERPETRATORS
There are many different types of Bullying Behaviour:
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Physical
Verbal
Written
Social
Racist
Isolation
•Homophobic
•Extortion
•Coercion
•Cyber-bullying
•Intimidation
A child who wants to bully another will find a way and if one way
is prevented, e.g. cyber-bullying, can switch to another kind. But
if we can educate her/him not to bully - to be like the majority of
students - we can end all forms of bullying including cyberbullying. We can change the culture in schools to achieve this.
THE “ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN” CAN MINIMISE
BULLYING INCLUDING CYBER-BULLYING
CYBER-BULLYING
TRAINING IS ALSO NECESSARY
AT OTHER LEVELS IN SCHOOLS
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
• How adults in schools relate to each other and how they
relate to their pupils has a verifiable impact on how pupils
relate to each other.
• Research shows that rates of workplace bullying in schools
are double the national workplace average.
• Research shows that if adults in schools model bullying
behaviour towards each other or towards pupils
(a) efforts to improve pupil behaviour are undermined and
(b) pupils feel “permitted” to treat their peers in this way
IT IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE TRAINING FOR ADULTS IN
SCHOOLS TO MINIMISE ADULT BULLYING BEHAVIOUR
CYBER-BULLYING
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
TRAINING WOULD COST A LOT LESS THAN THE INEFFECTIVE
STATUS QUO, WHICH COSTS OVER €50m PER YEAR
Of the 12,000 who
attended A&E in 2010,
due to self-harming
(overdoses, attempted
hanging, cutting, etc.)
9,600 (80%) had been
bullied. If average stay
in hospital were just
three days the cost to
the State for this would
have been €16m.
The cost in time and
manpower of support
services like NEPS,
NEWB, HSLS, NBSS
etc. etc. for students
who
are
badly
affected and remain
out of school due to
bullying is significant.
What savings would
be made by a
reduction in bullying
-€
?
60% of those who bully
and are not reformed
have
a
criminal
conviction, by age 24.
35% - 40% have at least
three criminal convictions
by age 24 in Sweden &
U.S.A.
At a rate of just one per
school per year and a
cost €
70,513 per prisoner
per year (2010) - €30m
per year.
FROM RECENT TRAGIC CASES WE KNOW THE BULLYING
THAT LEADS TO THESE COSTS INCLUDES CYBER-BULLYING
CYBER-BULLYING
Joint Committee
on Transport and
Communications
Leinster House
Dublin 2
WHILE CYBER-BULLYING IS A SOCIAL PROBLEM
ITS TECHNOLOGICAL NATURE POSES ADDED PROBLEMS
BUT THIS ALSO OFFERS OPTIONS FOR RESOLUTION
• There are some unique difficulties posed by this form of
bullying, that take time to resolve, in relation to:
(a) identifying perpetrators
(b) removing offensive material, e.g. on facebook
(c) undoing damage already done
(d) preventing other incidents including deterrence
• The time involved in resolving these, even if brief, is
very damaging so anything that can reduce the time
between incident and resolution is very valuable.
CYBER-BULLYING LEAVES ELECTRONIC FINGERPRINTS THAT
CAN IDENTIFY PERPETRATORS AND THIS OFFERS OPTIONS . . .