Schools have not been “open enough” about the issue of bullying, the Minister of Education has said, as she unveiled a raft of new plans designed to tackle the issue.
Norma Foley said the department and schools needed to “work harder” when a child was unhappy and not included.
Among new rules published on Wednesday, schools will be obliged to record all incidents of bullying, which will be included in an anonymised national database and will form part of an annual report.
The Inspectorate of the Department of Education publishes ‘Perspectives on Bullying Behaviour 2023’, summarising insights from students, parents, teachers and principals.
📰 Find out more 👉 https://t.co/UiBYaUl6bZ#education #PressRelease pic.twitter.com/kS2KfnTNlo— Department of Education (@Education_Ire) June 19, 2024
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The whole school community, including students, parents, teachers, caretakers, as well as cleaners and boards of management, will be required to ensure that bullying is not tolerated in schools.
Schools will “tackle hidden spaces” in hallways, staircases and in the playground where there is a greater risk of bullying.
The new rules will also see schools, particularly post-primary, becoming a more “telling” environment.
Schools will be required to review cases of bulling with students and their parents after 20 days to see if the bullying has stopped.
The new rules form part of the “bi cinealta” (be kind) initiative which aims to stamp out bullying in schools.
Speaking at its launch on Wednesday, Ms Foley said: “I want to acknowledge this for too long, I feel, we have not been open enough about this issue within schools.
“I’m going to be very honest and say, as a teacher myself, we’re very, very proud when all our children are happy and included.
“But we need to work harder when a child is not happy and a child is more vulnerable and not included.
“We haven’t wanted to have this discussion, I believe, out there in the open. Parents have it all the time.
Minister @NormaFoleyTD1 announces publication of the Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.
📰Press release 👉 https://t.co/rVN65SNYSO pic.twitter.com/XJeSzF9GdM— Department of Education (@Education_Ire) June 19, 2024
“I really do believe parents want us to have this open discussion. We want the culture within the school to be a culture of openness to speak, to be heard, and for proactive action to be taken.”
The Fianna Fáil minister added: “I know that the vast, vast majority of our students that come to school are happy and contented and feel that they’re included.
“But I also know for some students, that’s not the reality. What we’re actually doing is we’re launching the procedures to prevent and address bullying behaviour in our primary and our post-primary and indeed, in our specialist schools.”
She said that parents’ “greatest hope” is that their child will thrive and be happy in school, while their “greatest fear” is their child becoming a victim of bullying.
“Everyone will be consulted in the policy, the formulation of the policy, that’s the staff, the students, the boards of management, the entire school community, and that policy will be reviewed every single year,” the minister added.
She said that students in post-primary schools would be encouraged to be more open about what was happening to them.
“Perhaps in the primary school there’s a better culture of to tell, to share the burden, to share the unhappiness as it were,” Ms Foley added.
“But within the guidelines we have here, we are cultivating that culture right across all of our schools – tell more, be open.
“So that there’s a clear culture in the school that if you’re not happy, if there’s something happening that you’re not happy about, that you would tell more about it.
“When you share, it lessens the burden.”
