A landmark study, carried out by Trinity College Anti-Bullying Centre on behalf of the Irish Independent and RTE's Prime Time Investigates, states that every form of bullying and victimisation is widespread in schools in Ireland. Thirty per cent of students surveyed said they had endured all types of bullying during the past couple of months.  

This is the first major study to probe the extent of cyber bullying among school children. More than 2,790 pupils from eight secondary schools - including public and fee-paying, mixed and single-sex schools - were asked about:

• abuse carried out on social networking sites;
• abusive text messages;
• problems with peers taking and sending abusive video clips or photographs on mobile phones;
• abuse carried out in internet chatrooms.  

More than 14 per cent of the students (aged between 12 and 19) said they had been targeted by cyber bullies, while 11 per cent said it had happened to them once or twice, and 3 per cent said it was a regular occurrence. One in ten students felt it was "just part of life".  

It was found that children as young as 12 were being targeted through mobile phone calls, text messages, e-mails, internet forums, chatrooms and social networking sites. However, those who suffered cyber bullying were much less likely to do anything about it, with only six per cent reporting it to adults at school.  

The survey revealed that:

• One-in-seven students had been targeted by bullies via the internet or their mobile phones;
• Girls were more likely to fall victim to online bullies than boys; 
• One-in-eight boys admitted to being 'cyber bullied' in recent months; 
• One-in-11 pupils admitted that they engaged in 'cyber bullying' recently.  

Frank Mulvihill, President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, warned that cyber bullying could have tragic consequences. It directly affected students' grades in the short term, and could drive others to threaten to take their own lives.  

Dr Mona O'Moore, who heads the team at the anti-bullying centre at Trinity College, criticised the Government for failing to act. She said the Government had been "very, very slow in taking responsibility for implementing . . . international good practice".  

"We have a long road to travel. It is up to the Department of Education to lead us ... Bullying should carry a health warning, same as smoking."  

Dr O'Moore called on the department to initiate a national anti-bullying programme that would provide specific guidelines and policies to help schools deal with the problem. She also called on schools to play a greater role in educating parents on their children's internet usage.   

"Schools have to speak out and set a zero acceptance of this, and there have to be some sanctions," she said, adding that service providers must not be allowed to "slip away" from their responsibilities either.  

John White, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI), said it was "worrying" that only a low number of pupils had informed adults of the bullying. 

A "culture" must be created where the entire community -- from schools, teachers, parents and pupils -- accept bullying exists and agrees it is unacceptable, he said.  

The Department of Education plans to revise its 15-year-old anti-bullying guidelines to take account of cyber bullying. A spokeswoman for Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe insisted, however, that the department already had "a strong focus on cyber bullying".  

She said that bullying was a complex issue that "transcends the school environment". While the department had a strong role to play in combating it, "education in its wider sense, within the home, is critically important", she added. 

So what can parents do about their children who are either bullied or are themselves bullies? They can:

• Increase their knowledge of the technology that is out there - the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) runs courses for parents and teachers, and a website created by NCTE (www.webwise.ie) encourages parents to discover the internet together with their children and has valuable guidance on internet safety.
• Encourage their children to report bullying and help them to realise that bullying is an offence. 

(Source: Irish Independent)