Tackling the changing face of bullying

At the funeral this week of 13-year-old Erin Gallagher, who took her own life in reaction to cyberbullying, Fr John Joe Duffy called on all agencies of the State to get together to draw up a policy to ensure that no other child suffers from cyberbullying.

Hence, the report on the issue of bullying in schools which was launched yesterday by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office, was particularly timely.

Ombudsman Emily Logan called on the Government to bolster the ongoing work of the Department of Education by including the Department of Health in developing an anti-bullying strategy so that the issue is addressed as both a public health and an educational matter.

There is much more diversity in our schools today than when the parents of today’s children were in school. As a result most parents have little experience of the variety of bullying that may now take place in schools. In earlier times pupils were bullied due to socio-economic status, dress, accent, or sexual orientation, but now they may also be bullied on account of ethnicity, culture, and religion.

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office undertook its investigation by interviewing 10 groups of children and young people between Sept and Dec 2011 to understand the degree of bullying, and a further nine groups of young people were consulted between June and September of this year to determine the most effective ways of dealing with the bullying.

In all some 300 children between the ages of 10 and 17 were consulted, from across the country, including Dublin, Monaghan, Donegal, Limerick, Carlow, and Wexford. The report documents the children’s views, which showed a strong belief that the bullying needs to be tackled by prevention and intervention.

In the area of prevention the children stressed that schools should have “rules that make sure there is no bullying”, and have a policy in place to deal with bullying when it does exist, because there is no point in having an anti-bullying policy if it is not enforced effectively.

One aspect of the report that may raise eyebrows stressed the importance of dealing with homophobic bullying by educating young people on the need for acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, “because they are people, too”. The report adds that young people need to understand that “homosexuality is normal and acceptable”. Such issues need to be discussed openly, because otherwise the perception may develop that the school is tolerant of homophobic attitudes and behaviours.

Teachers have an important role to play in educating people about bullying, but to do so they need to be properly equipped with the knowledge, skills, and resource material to do so effectively. Of course, bullying behaviour can also be prevalent outside of school, in the home, or in the community at large.

Tackling bullying effectively is, therefore, the responsibility not only of young people, their parents, but also professionals working throughout the educational system and society generally.