Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today welcomed to the Department of Education in Marlborough street students from St Patrick’s Boys National School, Drumcondra and Coláiste Bride, Clondalkin to mark the UNESCO International Day against violence and bullying at school (4 November).

Launched last month by Minister Foley, the Dublin City University-led Anti Bullying in Action campaign invites schools across the country to share initiatives that have worked well in tackling the issue of bullying and specifically promoting online safety. The Minister has recently announced that the Department of Education is commencing a review of the Action Plan on Bullying and the Anti-bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools.

A broad range of entries has been received from students, teachers and principals to date, including creative poster campaigns and details of active student anti-bullying committees. Due to the success of the campaign, the deadline for school submissions has been extended to Friday 26 November.

The selected best entries will be showcased on tacklebullying.ie and feature in a best practice guide for schools on how to tackle bullying and promote online safety.

This afternoon Minister Foley met with students at the Department of Education to hear of the innovative and creative work they are undertaking in their schools through the DCU campaign.

Speaking ahead of the UNESCO International Day against violence and bullying, Minister Foley said:

“The DCU Anti Bullying Centre’s Anti Bullying in Action campaign provides a platform for schools to share examples with each other that they have found to be successful in tackling bullying. The campaign will provide a valuable resource for schools and raise awareness across school communities on the importance of working together to tackle every form of bullying behaviour.

“Today I was delighted to meet with primary and post-primary students from St Patrick’s National School, Drumcondra, and Coláiste Bríde, Clondalkin. They described the excellent and innovative work they are doing with their teachers to address bullying and to build positive school environments in which every student can thrive. I hope that more schools will share their examples of good work in this area through the campaign.”

Darran Heaney, Project Manager with the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, said:

“Our research shows that one in five primary school children and one in ten secondary school students will experience bullying, online or offline, at some point this year. While Ireland has made progress in recent years, bullying is such a big problem that needs to be addressed and tackled by everyone in the school community.

“From our work in rolling out the FUSE Anti-Bullying schools programme we know that many schools – teachers, parents and students – are already doing incredible work in their own schools and they have found innovative ways to raise awareness and reduce school bullying significantly. This campaign is to encourage schools to share knowledge of what is working locally to tackle bullying and address online safety issues and to celebrate the great work they have done to date. In doing so, we can inspire others looking for ideas.”

Source: gov.ie

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