Parents urged to discuss bullying with children starting school

PARENTS of pupils starting school this week should tell their children to talk to them about bullying or other bad experiences to prevent such problems becoming worse, the National Parents Council-Primary has advised.

As most of the country’s 3,300 primary schools reopen this morning, council chief executive Áine Lynch said it is easy to forget that traditional forms of bullying — such as physical violence, name-calling and exclusion — remain dominant among younger children, despite the emergence of bullying and intimidation among older pupils through mobile phone and internet technology.

More than 55,000 pupils will be starting their formal education this week for the first time.