Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan has announced additional funding of €55,000 to support the delivery of anti-bullying training sessions for parents.
This funding is on top of €60,000 announced earlier this year and brings the 2014 allocation to €115,000. Last year, 105 anti-bullying parent training sessions were held for over 3,000 parents and the funding announced today will allow for more than 200 sessions to be held.
The Anti-Bullying Parent Training Programme is jointly run by the National Parents Council Primary and Post Primary.
It will support the implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying, which called for training and resources for parents and boards of management.
Last year the Department of Education wrote to all 4,000 schools in the State about the need to draft anti-bullying procedures by the end of the second term of the current school year.
These must have detailed policies on handling bullying incidents, ensure adequate supervision in schoolyards and tackle the use of discriminatory or derogatory language.
Ms O’Sullivan said parents need “tools and know-how” to support their children in preventing bullying.
She said many parents had contacted her seeking support in helping their children combat cyberbullying.
“It’s something that can do extraordinary damage to a young person if they’re bullied. It can have huge effects on their self confidence and their chances of being successful in life,” she said.
Chief executive of the National Parents Council Primary, Áine Lynch said there has been a “huge improvement” in how schools deal with bullying and that parents are eager to take part in the sessions.
Ms Lynch said it is crucial parents build up a good relationship with their child so they can confide in them if they are being bullied.
“A lot of children would say they might not go to their parents about bullying incidents because they fear that the computer or phone might be taken off them, so it’s important for children to feel that they have the support of their parents, to keep themselves safe and that they wont have sanctions against them if they report incidents that happen,” she said.
Separately, Ms O’Sullivan said the issue of abortion will have to be revisited. However, she also said the Government does not have a mandate to deal with it.
This morning, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told Newstalk FM abortion won’t be revisited in the lifetime of this Government.
“I do think at some stage we do need to revisit the whole area,” said Ms O’Sullivan. “Particularly when a woman who is carrying a foetus that will not be able to survive after birth. I think that is a particular one that we need to return to again but we don’t have a mandate to do that under the current Government but I do think it’s something that we will have to visit in the future.”
