Look, this may be unpopular but a bit of light bullying or “hazing” builds character. Excessive bullying can be detrimental but you have to learn how to stand up for yourself.

The problem with this point it view is that “light” and “excessive” are subjective terms. What a gang of kids see as “a bit of fun” and “character building”, the victim may see as “excessive” and “deeply humiliating”. If someone feels humiliated by an action, the action cannot ever be seen as “light”.

@ John – If you mean “slagging” and “banter”, that’s a very different thing. A bit of slagging between friends is not necessarily a bad thing at all, it’s a part of our culture and is a very Irish way to show your friendship. But there’s no humiliation there. It’s taken as it’s meant. The old adage is true; slagg your friends and be polite to your enemies.

Yeah, a bit of banter is good as is having to stand up for yourself in one on one situations as these do occur in real life. Unfortunately that’s impossible if your embarrassed in-front of your entire class or by a group which is where I would draw the line.

John Duggan
Did you ever feel that you were ever a victim of bullying ?
Depending on your answer is where you will get your prespective.
Having said that , banter among friends is ok but like that too there is always a line you do not cross.

Yes, the first big problem is to decide if it’s intentional, and the next, after the mandatory board meeting and informing the parents of all concerned, is to decide what to do about the bullying. This also needs to be covered.

Anybody sending their child to a catholic school needs to abide by their rules and regulations, no one makes their child go to a catholic school, it’s the parents choice. Therefore they can’t pick and choose what their going to be taught in religion, you either believe in it or u don’t! Stop picking and choosing. I did not send my child to a catholic school because I don’t believe in the Catholic Church or any man made religion. I am not homophobic!

Unfortunately, for many parents in Ireland, they may not be able to afford a private school and there may not be a non-Catholic ethos school in their area. Not everyone lives in a city.

Karolyn I lived in rural Ireland. I had the choice of 3 secondary schools – all of which were run by the Catholic church. All primary schools were too.

There was no choice and my parents were both non-religious. The best they could do was fight so that we could come into primary school an hour late while religion was being taught. The school allowed us that because they were a small school and needed the numbers.

If there is clarity on procedure, rather than the current state of affairs when codes vary from school to school, then demands on BOM members’ time will decrease.

Yes, I’m sure we’d all hate for said volunteers to be put out over an issue that has the potential to lead to suicide. Yes, only an idiot would argue otherwise.

This is not a Bill that is underpinned by a blame-punishment approach, but more of an attempt to support school communities and BOMs in preventing and countering bullying – i.e. the whole school approach. Schools have their own anti-bullying policies, yes, but these can vary massively, as can the extent to which they are implanted. Deputy O’ Brien should expect cross-party support on this; internationally, efforts in Norway took a leap forward when researcher expertise in anti-bullying action was coupled with the legislative changes of 2003.

Did you ever think that maybe parents need to teach their kids some proper social ethics?

Absolutely, and this is why parents have a vital role in whole school and community approaches to anti-bullying. But whereas it’s possible to legislate to ensure there’s uniformity in how schools deal with bullying, the same is not true for how people parent!

Schools handle bullying so well no child has been bullied in decades

It’s actually the government that’s incompetent. We the taxpayers fund the schools, yet the government allow them to draw up their own enrolment policies! Even when said enrolment policies often blatantly discriminate against particular children, government say that they can’t interfere. Only in Ireland.

What do you suggest the school do?

Risterid I think they should do something but people will red thumb me so I guess do nothing or maybe say they will do something and do nothing or whatever

I work in th education sector. Im genuinely interest to hear what a member of the public thinks should be done.

What experience have you of bullying in todays schools!

I asked first Rita. :)