1. Brian O’Neill Dublin Institute of Technology 9/10 May Florence
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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. School-based Anti-Cyberbullying

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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)

11. Industry Solutions for Safer Technology Use
Empowering Parents / Educators
Empowering 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)

12. 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