Sir, – I wish to commend Paul Cullen’s article “Warning on primary level cyber- bullying as school starts” (Home News, August 26th) for highlighting how vulnerable children are.
It was very disheartening to read that children as young as six are being targeted by cyber-bullies on social media. It is an issue that needs a positive and decisive response from a cross-section of the community, including schools, parents and children.
It is up to us as responsible adults to educate ourselves on cyber safety and to ensure our children are made aware of the possible dangers and how to respond to any concerns in the most positive way possible. A few simple safety points can help ensure greater online safety for our children: 1. Never give out personal information. 2. Accept friendship requests on social networking sites only from people you know. 3. Be aware of age-appropriate requirements for social networking sites.4. Where bullying occurs, do not respond to it online and do not delete the e-mail or text. Save it or take a screen-grab of the offending material as this is proof of the bullying. 5. Where the bullying is persistent you might need to consider raising the issue with the child’s school or in more severe instances notifying the Garda.
In response to increasing concerns over bullying, the ISPCC has developed a new “Shield My School” self-evaluation toolkit for schools. The toolkit is downloadable from our website ispcc.ie/antibullyingtoolkit in Irish and English. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW JACKSON,
National Anti-bullying
Co-ordinator,
ISPCC,
Lower Baggot Street,
Dublin 2.