Child law experts call for update to policies on cyberbullying

As part of obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Education Department needs to urgently update its 20-year-old anti-bullying policy to include cyberbullying and teach children about their rights online, according to a child law expert.

The Department of Education’s anti-bullying policy, which governs bullying policies in the country’s schools, has not been updated since 1993 and doesn’t mention cyberbullying.

Yet, according to a UCC law lecturer cyberbullying is a “form of violence” against children and the Government needs to put more protections in place.