Protecting Children from Bullying and Cyberbullying: Awareness Raising and Public Policies: Some examples from Ireland Brian O’Neill Dublin Institute of Technology 9/10 May Florence

Main Points Prevention, awareness-raising and children’s empowerment 1.A local context – Ireland’s Action Plan on Bullying 2.School-based prevention strategies 3.Legislation and policy frameworks 4.Industry and technical solutions

Ombudsman Consultation  Advocacy role of Ombudsman for Children – “consult with children and highlight issues relating to their rights and welfare that are of concern to children themselves”;  Consultation with 300 children on bullying in schools facilitated by OCO (2012)  Emphasis on prevention strategies through school policies + awareness raising and education  Homophobic bullying as an area of particular concern  Schools need to engage where cyberbullying is an issue

Action Plan on Bullying (2013)  Included in Programme for Government ( )  DoES & DCYA joint initiative  12 point plan including: -New anti-bullying procedures for schools -Coordinated training and resource development for boards of management and parents. -School inspections and thematic evaluation -National media and awareness campaigns -Supports for children with special needs -Research on prevalence and impact of bullying linked to social media on the mental health and suicidal behaviour among young people

School-based Anti-Cyberbullying

Cyber-crime affecting personal safety, privacy and reputation including cyber-bullying (2015)  Should the offence of harassment include a specific reference to cyber- harassment?  Should there be a new offence that would make criminal once-off serious interferences with another person’s privacy using cyber technology  Does current law adequately address online hate crime?  Are the penalties for offences for cyber-harassment and related behaviour appropriate?  Are existing civil law remedies adequate to protect against cyber-harassment and to safeguard the right to privacy? The working group [on Bullying] has come to the conclusion that, at this time, the focus should be on securing implementation of existing legislative requirements across the system rather than seeking to introduce new legislation. Action Plan on Bullying 2013, Key Findings

Internet Content Governance and E-Safety Task Force Group reporting to Minister for Communications (2014)  Internet safety arrangements at the level of the state  Issues of misuse / abuse of online communication, specifically cyberbullying  Issues of content that may be offensive or inappropriate for certain ages

A Governance Framework A policy coordination function Forum for multi-stakeholder cooperation Platform for service delivery

Role of Industry in tackling cyberbullying  European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children (2007)  Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU (2009)  CEO Coalition Principles (2011)  ICT Coalition for Children Online (2012)

Industry Solutions for Safer Technology Use Empowering Parents / EducatorsEmpowering the User Providing advice + videos + guides + technology which supports parents: -Discuss with children about safe internet use -Develop clear rules on usage -Web/video/SNS/image/keyword filtering -Ability to block or monitor sites -Ability to screen material -Provision of activity reports to monitor use -Ability to change mobile number -Disable features on a phone -Instant alerts Providing advice + videos + guides + technology which supports the user: -Guidance on safe internet use -How to block content -How to control privacy settings -How to report abuse -How to remove content -Social reporting -What to do if you are cyberbullied (Smith and Steffgen, 2013)

Conclusion Some features of good practice  Consulting with children / highlighting issues that are of concern to children themselves  A multi-stakeholder approach with high level governmental involvement  Empowering schools to take responsibility  Training supports and resources for implementation  Data collection and evaluation  Embedding within a framework to promote better online experience