Principals welcome cyberbullying classes

Second-level principals have welcomed the idea of schools being obliged to teach dedicated cyberbullying classes to all students.

The suggestion is reported to be among a range of recommendations due to go to Government soon from the Internet Content Governance Advisory Committee.

It was set up late last year to assess the relevance of existing legislation and regulations around internet usage, and to recommend any necessary changes. But it was also tasked with advising Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte on how best site operators, internet service providers, the State and others should interact on issues such as bullying and harassment online, and access to material of an age-sensitive nature.

Following public submissions, its report was recently submitted to Mr Rabbitte, who is expected to bring the recommendations to Cabinet colleagues soon.

Among those to make a detailed submission was the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), which said they would welcome any move to direct education on cyberbullying.

“We looked for a classroom module to enable students to be more aware of the issue, and also that there would be further education on this for parents. Unless the message from schools is reinforced at home, it will be a lost cause, as parents have to be kept up to speed with what all the technology can do,” said NAPD director Clive Byrne.

He said cyberbullying classes could be taught through the social, personal and health education (SPHE) curriculum. But he said resources for training teachers would have to be provided, perhaps by existing support services for SPHE.

“Some people see it as the thin end of the wedge, schools being expected to deal with another problem in wider society. But schools also end up dealing with the consequences of cyberbullying, so a mechanism to... teach responsible internet use would be a good thing,” Mr Byrne said.

Among the ideas also put forward is that parents would be provided with dedicated training on the issue of cyberbullying. The primary and post-primary national parents’ councils were recently approved to provide further workshops on bullying after a series of Department of Education-funded events last year.

Under Education Minister Ruairí Quinn, the department has put in place a requirement that all schools must have dedicated bullying policies in place since last Easter, which may include specific references to cyberbullying.

Earlier this year, research led by advisory group chair Brian O’Neill at Dublin Institute of Technology found that the numbers of Irish children who have been bothered by online material has doubled since 2011 to one-in-five.

But it also highlighted how most of teenagers’ internet use takes place at home, and that nearly 40% of those aged 11 or 12 have a social network profile. More than one-fifth of 15 and 16-year olds have received sexual messages online, but so too did 10% of children as young as 13 or 14.

The advisory group recommendations will also likely deal with the question of parental filters being provided by internet service providers.