‘If someone had reached out, it could have made a difference’

Jennifer Hough reports that plans are in place to use a radio documentary, The Diary of Leanne Wolfe, as a warning to bullies about the devastating effects of their actions.

THEY had called her names and pulled her hair out. She was beaten and vicious rumours had been spread about her.

If anything could work as a deterrent to school yard bullies, it would surely be the chilling radio documentary, The Diary of Leanne Wolfe.

The 18-year-old Cork schoolgirl took her own life in March of last year after years of abuse at the hands of her peers.

Now, plans are afoot to use the award-winning RTÉ radio documentary, based on Leanne’s diaries, as an educational tool in secondary schools, and more importantly, as a warning to potential, or actual, bullies about the devastating effects of their actions.

It is surely worth a try, because one thing is sure — to date nothing else has worked to curb the teasing and taunting that affects at least 200,000 children in our schools.

Bullies continue to ruin young lives, and it is very difficult to deter them with any real effect.

Leanne’s mother Colette maintains her daughter would be alive today if more was done in schools to tackle bullying.

“It started off as something so small, but had such an effect,” she said. “But I really think if someone had reached out to Leanne, it could have made a difference.”

Now more than ever schools, parents and peers need to be vigilant.

The invasive nature of 21st century bullying has added fuel to an already raging fire.

Technology is abused by bullies to invade every facet of their victims’ lives. There is no escaping it.

On the night she died, Leanne received a hateful text — it may have been the final straw.

Research has shown that Irish children as young as 12 are the victims of cyber bullying via mobile phones.

A survey by Trinity College found that one in seven students were the targets of bullies via mobile phones and the internet, including phone calls, texts and emails.

President of the Irish Guidance Counsellors and counsellor at Coláiste Chríost Rí, Turners Cross, Frank Mulvihill, calls cyber-bullying a “modern social evil”.

Just last week an Oireachteas committee was told that mobile operators in Ireland were reluctant to use software developed by an Irish company to restrict unsolicited text and voice calls made to children.

“Efforts by some internet providers to introduce an anti-bullying service have failed miserably. It is now time to introduce legislation which will shut down sites which allow such practices in this country,” he said.

But while there is a lot of activity on the ground with boards, policies and procedures, Aine Lynch, of the National Parents’ Council, admits the age-old problem is almost impossible to regulate.

“By its nature bullying is very secretive, so it is very difficult to tackle,” said Ms Lynch. “But nevertheless more resources are needed to stamp it out.”

Ms Lynch, however, admitted that policies can often become dead documents on walls. She said schools really need to live their policies.

“It can often be seen as controversial, but more needs to be done for the children who are bullies. They are often the one with the biggest problem,” she said.

The parents’ council is stepping up efforts to set up a dedicated bullying helpline.

“Bullying remains the most common reason why people ring us. The calls we receive describe allegations of bullying by an individual or groups of children against others, bullying by teachers and principals and cyber-bullying,” she said.

“Parents describe the pain and confusion suffered by children who are being bullied or who are bullying. They tell us the impact this can have on the whole family and want to know what role the school should play in resolving the problem,” said Ms Lynch.

Both Dr Mona O’Moore, founder of the Anti-Bullying Centre at Trinity College, and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation believe the lack of guidelines for national schools signals a lack of political will to take a lead on the issue.

“Schools are left to draw up their own policy, some do, but others don’t,” said Dr O’Moore.

“We ran a pilot project in the early 1990s which worked very well but was undermined by the department because it was not properly funded, and teachers were not given the time to be trained appropriately.

“It was a whole-school approach, but the department did not get on board and the trainers lost enthusiasm. It was a wonderful opportunity that was missed.”

Dr O’Moore also questioned whether schools were really implementing policies.

“There is no way of knowing. There should be some way of inspecting it, and schools should have to prove they are doing something.”

But why is it left to people like Dr O’Moore — in an unfunded college centre — to lead the way, lobby and fight for change in this area?

Children are continuing to suffer due to the lack of a concentrated policy from the Department of Education. According to the anti-bullying unit, the humiliation and fear which children experience when bullied results in absenteeism from school, poor or deteriorating schoolwork, personality changes, illness, depression — and sometimes suicide.

“Most people are aware that bullying exists, yet this behaviour often remains largely unchallenged until it manifests itself as either directly impacting on someone we know and care about or as a problem that has become too serious to ignore,” added Dr O’Moore.

“Failure to act gives a silent but powerful message that aggressive behaviour is appropriate and acceptable,” she said.

While Leanne Wolfe’s case had extreme consequences, the story itself is not all that uncommon.

Leanne’s legacy are her diaries.

If the radio documentary, however shocking, can be used in schools perhaps it will urge others to speak out, and prevent another young life being ended.