Schools to extend action on cyberbullies

Vocational schools are to be told they must act on cyberbullying by students even if it happens outside school hours.

Under new rules on cyberbullying being finalised by the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), every school’s policies should state clearly that all bullying comes under its authority if it is done by a member of the school community and impinges on a student’s work or happiness. Crucially, it says, this would apply even where the bullying is done outside the school.

The 250 vocational schools and community colleges run by the vocational education committees, for which the IVEA is an umbrella body, should also have the right to discipline students who bully other members of the school community, even when not at school. In addition, the proposed rules would require schools to: