Bullied teen praised for speaking out against cyberbullies

The ISPCC has praised a teenager for speaking out about how she stood up to cyberbullies.

And the charity has urged schools to download its new anti-bullying toolkit as children return to classes this week.

The free Shield My School resource will help school managers assess their bullying policies and identify areas where it can be improved.

The ISPCC said it will work with schools to help strengthen their policies.

Cork teenager Shauna Sisk was overwhelmed with messages of support from around the country yesterday after she told her story to the Irish Examiner.

The part-time model, who was targeted online after winning a local beauty title, urged others not to suffer in silence. “You shouldn’t hide away. You should stand up and speak out and tell someone you think will support you,” she said.

The ISPCC, which received 9,000 calls last year from children who said they were being bullied, hailed Shauna’s bravery.

“It’s really important that people stand up and say that they are not going to stand for being bullied,” the ISPCC’s Ann Marie Spillane said.

“It can be a very difficult thing to do. Sometimes people can blame themselves, and feel that it’s something in them that’s causing the bullying. And it’s really important that people realise that that’s not the case.”

The ISPCC’s Childline manager in Cork also pointed to a new Childline text service which allows victims to seek help themselves.

She urged children suffering at the hands of others to text the word ‘bully’ to 50101 from 10am to 10pm, seven days a week. The texts will be seen by a Childline volunteer who can contact the texter to offer support and advice.

The Watch Your Space website, a portal for young people to show their support for victims of cyberbullying, also praised Shauna for talking about her experience.

The site is run by webwise.ie, the Irish internet safety awareness raising centre, which is part of the PDST Technology in Education based at Dublin City University.

It aims to encourage young people to positively intervene when they see instances of online bullying, by tweeting the hashtag #up2us.

* www.ispcc.ie/antibullyingtoolkit

@shaunas37 Shauna Sisk great on 2FM. F**k the begrudgers is right. Bullies never tend to be smartest or most charismatic people in the room

— Fiona Kenny (@FionaKenny1) August 27, 2013

Tips for parents

Tips parents can give their children to stay safe online:

* Never give out personal information;

* Only accept friendship requests on social networking sites from people you know;

* Be aware of age appropriate requirements for networking sites;

* Where bullying occurs, do not respond to it online and do not delete the email or text. Save it or take a “screen grab” of the offending material as proof of the bullying;

* Where the bullying is persistent, consider taking the issue to the school authorities, or in severe instances even to the gardaí.

Be strong

How to respond if you experience cyber-bullying

* Don’t reply to the messages;

* Contact a trusted adult or friend. You can also contact the provider where an image or video has been uploaded (Facebook, Twitter etc) and ask for it to be removed;

* Save the evidence, take a screenshot as proof;

* Go offline. Log out or switch off your phone;

* Tell a trusted adult, such as a close relative, a family friend, a teacher, health professional, or a youth worker, or contact a free confidential support service such as Samaritans — 1850 60 90 90;

* Change your passwords, number, contacts details, and make sure your privacy settings are restricted on all websites;

* Block and report the bullying to the technology providers;

* Block anonymous questions on Ask.fm in your privacy settings if you decide to use the website;

* In serious or persistent cases report the bullying to gardaí yourself or through your parents.

* For more tips, go to spunout.ie.