NUI Galway professor Keith Sullivan who is attached to the school of education has said that the problem of cyberbullying is escalating in our schools, and it is difficult to stop due to the anonymity of the perpetrator.
Speaking at the annual conference of the International School of Psychology Association in Dublin recently Prof Sullivan identified key areas which were allowing the problem of cyberbullying to grow.
Prof Sullivan blamed the ease with which bullys can use the internet 24 hours a day to harass and intimidate their victims, and he also said that the language being used online was not familiar to adults and this was a problem.
A recently released survey has revealed that more than one in four boys in Ireland say they have been bullied while one in five girls say they have been victims of bullying.
Prof Mona O’Moore of the school of education in Trinity College said that the Government must prioritise the implementation of a nationwide strategic approach to tackle bullying in schools. Significant recommendations on eradicating cyberbullying should also be included she said.
A piloted programme in Donegal successfully reduced the incidence of victimisation by an encouraging 20 per cent while bullying by others fell by more than 17 per cent.
Prof O’Moore said that Ireland was struggling to deal adequately with bullying and that sometimes the issue was not treated as seriously as it should be. She said that the casual perception around bullying needed to be changed. If it were normal she asked, why were victims dying by suicide or being found in psychiatric units.
