Counselling cuts blamed for surge in bullying

Guidance counsellors said “it should be no surprise that the problem of cyberbullying is exploding” when vulnerable children cannot access counselling sessions in school due to government cutbacks.

Coláiste Chríost Rí guidance counsellor Frank Mulvihill accused the Government of “doing away with the one channel that provides constant non- judgemental, confidential counselling support to children” by halving the number of counselling hours available in Irish secondary schools.

“Is it any wonder that this is happening? This isn’t new. It was there since 2007 but it is getting worse. We need targeted initiatives supported with resources yet there has been a cut in half of guidance counsellors and a literal explosion in cyberbullying problems since.”

School principal Michael Evans told the cyberbullying conference that the cuts to guidance counsellors were “the worst cut of all as it affects the most vulnerable pupils”.

Earlier this week, the Institute of Guidance Counsellors revealed its members have had a 51.4% reduction in their time allocation for one-to-one counselling due to the Government’s refusal to increase guidance counsellor numbers.

Meanwhile, UCC lecturer on children’s rights Aisling Parkes described the Government and Department of Education’s approach to cyberbullying as “disjointed”. She said it had become up to individual schools and parents to independently attempt to tackle the problem. Bill Liao of Coder Dojo described the Government’s approach as “fragmented”.

Dr Sinead Gilloway of NUI Maynooth’s psychology department said that anti-cyberbullying education must begin at primary school as “cyberbullying peaks at ages 12-14”.

She also urged parents to “talk to their children about the pros, cons and risks of social media” reminding them to “gently raise it” with their children” while avoiding threats of removing access to phones, tablets, laptops etc as that can deter them from reporting bullying”.

Her colleague Padraig Cotter also urged parents to inquire about school policies on cyberbullying at parent teacher meetings.

Avril Ronan of Trend Micro reminded parents and teachers that the key to combating cyberbullying is “education”.

“You need to teach them to make responsible decisions on their own. You can lock them down at home with all the parental controls in the world but you want them to make the right decisions when they are away from home,” she said.