VECs warn of pic-phone bullies

CAMERA phones in schools can be a “lethal weapon” and used as a tool for bullying, a conference heard yesterday.

Vocational school managers are to set up a task force on the use of camera phones and make recommendations to the Department of Education and Science on a code of practice for their use in schools.

Mobile phones are useful but camera phones have the potential to contribute to bullying and harassment of pupils, particularly in the context of changing rooms, delegates gathered for the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) annual conference heard yesterday.

The leisure and amenity industry has already awoken to the potential threats posed by camera phone technology. It is now time for schools to wake up to the real dangers they pose and to act to protect pupils.

“We live in a society which puts a high value on personal liberty,” Stephen O’Connor of the City of Dublin VEC said.

“It has been hard won and we are understandably reluctant to limit it. When we restrict personal freedom, we should ensure we do so for good reasons.

“This is an attempt to protect the vulnerable from exploitation. There are very real problems with the use of camera phones in society and schools are no exception.

“Text messages are also being used to bully children. Given that a picture is as powerful as a thousand words, it is not difficult to contemplate the impact of images which violate the personal dignity and privacy of a student. These adolescents are already at a vulnerable stage in their development.”

It is not alarmist, he said, to think that images from camera phones would be used for bullying with devastating and tragic consequences.

“After this year’s incident, service providers and phone manufacturers told us that they were introducing various technical safeguards to limit the possibility of these type of incidents.

“Yet when they do arrive, they are not likely to be 100% fool-proof and would be circumvented.”

County Clare VEC chairperson, Flan Garvey, urged the IVEA not to sit around and await Department of Education policy.

“We as school managers have to take responsibility for this issue and take action. I suggest we set up a task force on it. If we were waiting for the Department to act, we could be waiting far too long,” he said.

The Department of Education said yesterday that it had no plans to develop a strategy on the use of camera phones in schools.

“It is a matter for the board of management of each school, as is smoking,” said a department spokesperson.