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| xOCOBullyingReport2012.pdf | | 1061Kb | Adobe PDF | 
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| Title: | Dealing with bullying in schools: A consultation with children and young people |
| Authors: | Ombudsman for Children Office (OCO) |
| Publisher: | Ombudsman for Children Office (OCO) |
| Issue Date: | 2012 |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10147/252454 |
| Type: | Report |
| Language: | en |
| Description: | It is estimated that there are at least 7,000 primary school and 3,700 post-primary
school students who find it difficult to go to school every day as a result of being bullied
frequently and that at least a further 24% of primary school students and 14% of postprimary
school students have experienced bullying, albeit to a lesser extent.1
As has been outlined in the Ombudsman for Children’s annual reports to the Houses
of the Oireachtas, the issue of bullying in schools is consistently raised with the OCO
by parents. A significant majority of the more than 6,000 complaints dealt with by the
OCO since its establishment have been made by parents on behalf of their children. On
average, over 40 % of complaints made to the Office annually relate to education and
bullying is consistently among the five issues raised most frequently in education-related
complaints. Although the OCO has no role to investigate or substantiate allegations of
bullying, it has had occasion to consider the manner in which such matters are dealt with
in and by schools. In such cases, the OCO’s approach has been to promote the resolution
of issues through local complaints procedures and, where necessary, to independently and
impartially examine the matter further in order to arrive at an understanding of the issues
involved and, where appropriate, make recommendations as regards how the matter might
be resolved in the best interests of the child or children affected. From its consideration
of complaints relating to bullying, the OCO is aware of a range of issues that can impede
schools’ capacity to handle incidents of bullying effectively. Among these issues are:
• Incidents of bullying can occur out of view of school staff (for example, in the toilets or
school bus). Accordingly, there have been occasions where initial contact by the OCO
with a school in relation to an issue concerning bullying is the first time the school has
become aware of it.
• Bullying behaviours can be symptomatic of diverse factors in a child’s life at home,
in school, in his/her local community and/or in the wider society.2 As such, while
schools have an important role to play in addressing bullying, they cannot carry sole
responsibility for doing so and, where the issues involved are complex, they cannot be
expected to handle the matter without the involvement and support of others.
• There can be different – and divergent – views as regards the appropriate approach to
dealing with specific incidents of bullying, including which policies and procedures to
use and when, and the extent to and manner in which the children directly affected and
their parents/carers should be involved in efforts to resolve the matter. |
| Keywords: | BULLYING
CHILD HEALTH |
| Appears in Collections: | Office of the Ombudsman for Children
|
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