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SPECIFIC STRATEGIES TO deal with cyberbullying and homophobic bullying are to become mandatory in all 4,000 primary and post-primary schools.
The Department of Education has published new anti-bullying procedures that are required to be adopted, replacing guidelines that have been in place since 1993.
Following consultation with parents and students, each school must develop it’s own individual policies before publishing them on the school’s website.
The anti-bullying policies are required to have a number of elements as per the procedures set out by the department today. Some of the key elements include:
The publication of the procedures has been welcomed by a number of children’s groups with the ISPCC saying that the issue of bullying has “dominated” their attention recently. The charity has pledged assistance to any school who wants support in implementing the procedures.
The new procedures also make clear that dialogue between parents school authorities is increasingly important in light of the fact that cyberbullying often takes place when the student is at home. This, the department says, is also true of topics that can be ‘masked by prejudice and silence such as homophobic bullying’.
LGBT students
LGBT advocacy groups GLEN and BeLonG have said that the new procedures have the potential to ‘radically transform’ the lives of LGBT people in schools throughout the country
“Every class in every school in Ireland has LGBT students,” according to Michael Barron, director at BeLonG To.
Many schools are already working to create a climate that is safe and supportive for these students. Many other schools, however, are not working to support LGBT young people and these procedures provide much needed support and direction for those schools.
All schools are required to immediately commence the development of new procures with a new formal anti-bullying policy required to be in place by the second term of the 2013/14 school year at the latest.
The new anti-bullying procedures from the Department of Education can be viewed in full here.
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Anti homophobic education needs to be directed at those older than school going age.
Im 26. I went to an all boys school that consisted of 900 male pupils. Not one pupil was openly gay. We prided ourselves on our zero tolerance for bullying, but no student felt safe to come out. Look at the stats. 3-5% of the general population are gay, yet it was not reflected in the general student population.
If you asked me then, why none of my fellow classmates were gay, id probably have given an Iranian like answer.
Slurs like queer, fag, faggot, bender, shirtlifter were thrown around like confetti. The teachers never acted on them.
I openly admit that I was once homophobic. That was my problem, not theirs. But then I worked and went to college with gay lads. Became friends with them. I was the lad that my gay friend came out of the closest to. It made me realise that gay people are just like me. Just with a different sexual preference.
Gay people are the norm. There is nothing wrong with them. Some of us heterosexuals need to get that.
It’s actually closer to 20-25% if you count those who are bi to some degree etc and the gay gay (those who have no tendency towards the opposite sex) are more like 10-11%
Hi Ryan,
I am not too familiar with the exact stats – just offering you the opinion of a former homophobe.
Also it has changed in the last 8-10 years there are a lot of guys taking guys to debs etc it HAS picked up a lot.
My cousin says theres 3 gay guys on his rugby team and one who considers himself bi, and these guys are 16-17 so I salute their brass balls in coming out in school.
It is changing, slowly though.
I was just saying it I studied social science (which included economics social policy and sociology) as my first degree we had a lot of sexuality studies in it, including the big Kinsey Research, he found that human sexuality is not actually 3 narrowly defined categories but a blurry spectrum.
That there were some who were 100% gay or 100% str8 but that most are somwhere along a spectrum in between that, which includes everything from 5050bi to say a mostly str8 guy who would be mildly curious or who finds guys attractive but would never want to act on it with one of them.
@Ryan 20-25% gay to some degree? Thats bonkers. You reckon that up to 25% of the human population is somewhat gay? We must be living in different worlds.
Yes I live in the worlds of facts, research, numbers, logic and deductive reasoning.
You live in the world of what does my irrational subcoincious and emotional impulses tell me about an issue oh well that must be what it is then.
I’m not saying jack, the research says it not me.
and I said ”when you include those who are bi to some extent” I did not say ‘somewhat gay’ that’s not the same thing.
Peoples sexuality is a blurry messy mixed up thing it’s not as neat and ordered as people like to think.
All of you out there think about some of the stuff that pushes your buttons that you would not want others to see, now think about how much more that may be for others.
The research included people saying they were straght but who had physiological reactions to gay porn AND straght porn, as one example. Their bp went up their heartrate started racing, they got bloodflow downstairs certain hormones were triggered.
The lower figures usually come from studies where people are self reporting. People don’t like to lablel themselves.
I’ve known a lot of masculine guys who you’d never think were into other guys who called themselves straght despite liking gay sex (but who also loved sex with women, see its not black and white it’s blurry) and they did not like the label bi because of misunderstandings and connatations that came with it.
THe research that ignores what people say and studies their actual reactions tends to see higher numbers.
Then there are some really eye opening studies about experimentation, one study showed 1/3 of American Footbal players who identified as straight had experimented with the same sex.
Open your mind a bit.humans are really complex life forms.
The first thing that needs to be stamped out is the phrase ‘that’s gay’….
Fully agree, its used as a remark to say how stupid/idiotic or how much they hate something, Its clearly not meant in a good way.
I disagree, that’s not the problem its just PC harping
The core of homophobia is not saying thats gay it’s picking on someone for being gay, esp the more ‘camp’ or whatever the person is (which really shows what a coward the bully is to be picking on someone that much weaker).
There is also a huge element of projection in homophobia, people who are bi or gay to some degree themselves and don’t like it, so they try to deflect.
The other term that needs to be stamped out is straight when referring to heterosexuals .
I think these are really small issues, it’s easy for straght people to see from the outside only these silly things but there are in reality way more important things.
A lot of guys who are gay or bi are very non-steriotypical and cover every archtype from the jock type to the goth, and more and more of these are coming out now.
There has been an element I’ve noticed however, reacting to this, that has said ”oh you’re ok cos your not camp, but them fairy boys piss me off” and that needs major attention and I think people should speak up when they hear this and say ”why should they? leave them be to do their own thing they’re not hurting you, nobody forcing you to be friends with them but theres no need to get pissed off by them”.
I also think a lot of the noncamp gay and bi guys need to speak up to that as well and say look i may not be attracted to them (or may be if that is the case) but I don’t endorce bullying them or hating on them.
That would do far more than toying around with words that actually are not even directed at LGBT
Ryan, many homosexual people I know find the term straight offensive .
Ryan Carroll, imagine you are 14, gay, insecure and afraid. Your peers refer to every single negative or uncool topic as being gay. Do you reckon that will help you come to terms with your own sexuality? I doubt it. It serves to alienate lgbt youth. I’m gay, I hear it daily and despite my own security (which took over a decade to achieve) I still feel like shit when I hear people say it. I certainly wouldn’t call it a non-issue
Well said Ailbhe
There is a brand of homophobe that likes to portray themselves ad tolerant and liberal, then brands homosexuals as promiscuous, greedy, attention seekers…..
@Aiibhe, I don’t have to imagine, I was there. I wasn’t sure if I was gay bi or what at the time but I was sure as hell not fully straight.
I was in an all boys catholic school (which incidentally was not very homophobic and gave us 5050 gay-str8 sex ed)
My peers were not really homophobic tbh in fact in 6th year my teammates/classmates were kinda ‘we know your gay it’s grand you can say it’ cos apparently I let something slip when I was hammered, though I hadn’t figured things out yet so I was not coming out.
Before they knew, when I was 14 and they said something was gay I usually thought ”yeh thats pretty f–kin gay all right”, I never thought it referred to me
I suggest most of you watch this south park episode: http://vodly.to/tv-5211-South-Park/season-13-episode-12 TO UNDERSTAND what the rest of Generation Y means with this word.
It does not refer to gay people you’d have to really over think it to think it does.
My advice to you is to realize most people don’t mean it that way, stop looking for things to get offended over, and focus your displeasure on people who are actually homophobic.
@Aiibhe a lot of homosexuals ARE promiscuous (which I don’t see as a bad thing…sorry shoot me but I think sex is great and I think if you can pull um do um), greedy and attention seekers.
LGBT are all kinds of people just like everyone else, I refuse to pretend just because we are a minority that we are automatically holy and pure and theres not any negative people who are LGBT because that would be to deny reality.
“Thats gay”and “you throw like a girl” are possibly the 2 best phrases in the English language.
I agree, the phrase “that’s gay” has to go.
I also think that a few myths about the LGBT population need to be blown out of the water.
“camp”, we’re not all camp, and there are many “straight” people who are far camper than I ever could/will be.
“spouse grabbers”, I’ve never slept with anybody’s husband, or wife, if I did, I apologise, but they lied to me. That’s a conversation you should have with your spouse, not with me. You don’t need to lock up your spouses, because I’m not interested.
“Promiscuous”, I know a great many gays, and yes, we talk about sex quite a lot (let’s be honest, sex is great, if its not – try gay sex), most of us are not promiscuous. Besides, a great many straights are a great length more promiscuous than most gays.
“Wads if cash”, I’m a mature student, if anyone wants to give me wads of cash – I sure won’t turn you down.
“Druggies”, I’ve taken drugs a few times, this was when I was having huge difficulty identifying myself as gay, more anon.
I had great difficulty identifying as being gay – this was mostly because I felt people would view me differently than if I were straight. Phrases like “that’s so gay” didn’t help. I’m a mature student. I’ve heard my class mates converse about homosexuality – and most of what they said was derogatory. I’m secure in myself now, so as such it really doesn’t bother me. But I can see why young people would feel that the world would frown upon them if they came out as being gay.
Yeah, because heterosexuals have suffered years of abuse and discrimination for be “straight”
Well I’m gay and I disagree with the idea that the phrase “that’s gay” needs to go. The word gay has 2 recognised meanings. The first refers to being a homosexual and the second refers to being happy. They are unrelated. I personally think that although the phrase “that’s gay” originally came about as an insult to homosexuality, it’s now has its own separate meaning. I have often used “that’s gay” or “don’t be gay” to express my distaste at something. In my opinion it’s only related to being gay if you allow it to be.
@Paul
“I personally think that although the phrase “that’s gay” originally came about as an insult to homosexuality”
The term was originally used to refer to feelings of being “carefree”, “happy”, or “bright and showy”
Kids who are pulled up for bullying in this regard could even state this when they are being interrogated.
It’s not about language per se, it’s about compassion and that should be the message, compassion for all types of people.
Calling things you don’t like “gay” draws a link between bad stupid things and LGBT people, and further re-enforces a situation where LGBT young people feel alienated and victimised.
It’s low-level homophobia that encourages worse name-calling and ill-treatment, and it shouldn’t be tolerated.
Why has a culture developed where the word gay is a byword for crap? Because we live in a homophobic society (as far as we have come recently) and while calling a school uniform or your homework gay isn’t being directly homophobic, it is a homophobic use of language and has no place in any kind of inclusive, positive environment.
And it makes you sound like a moron.
@Paul I was not trying to say I’m gay ego I am the king of all gays and what I say goes with words.
I agree you can have whatever thoughts you want on the words, I just think its a small issue and it does not serve our cause to harp on small things like that when there are so many bigger issues.
I think kids who overthink that word probably overthink other things and are probably getting hurt by taking offence at A LOT of things said that were not meant to hurt.
@Rebecca that may have been the original word, it was the original use of the N word and blacks turned that around, no reason we can’t allow a new meaning for this too.
I don’t understand why people are arguing for the continued use of a word / phrase which others have clearly said makes them uncomfortable and upset. That’s a pretty shirty thing to do, really. Fine, not all gay people who hear someone say “that’s so gay” will be made feel bad about it, but some (I’d say a majority) will. So why say something that you know is more than likely going to hurt someone?
Tim a simple question for ya.
Two gay guys holding hands on grafton street – is that flaunting homosexuality?
Boyfriend and girlfriend holding hands on grafton street – is that flaunting heterosexuality?
I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Its the marching up and down the street thing triggers me.
Two lads…. holding hands…. on grafton street…. what will the buskers think?
Tim thanks for your honesty.
But two gay lads could get beaten up for holding hands on Grafton Street whereas a straight couple wouldnt. Its the normal things you take for granted that could get a gay person in trouble and thats the sad thing. Pride serves a function to let everyone know that gay people wont hide anymore and that we want to be able to do all the stuff the rest of ye can do without fear of an insult, snide comment, dirty look or a fist. Pride is a celebration of diversity and the promotion of equality. Sometimes I think its a bit in your face too! But its only one day a year!
I’ll agree with that, at least you can understand where I’m coming from.
How will this equate with the reality that 90% of our schools are under the patronage of an organisation that preaches homophobia and intolerance of all sexual unions bar those capable of producing children?
I’m ALL for the initiative, in fact its shameful that there has been only ‘guidelines’ until this point, but part of me can’t help but worry if their will be a conflict with the Parish representatives on many schools board of management. Will an Archbishops influence prevent this policy being given anything more than the minimum mandatory effort to be written in certain areas.
Here’s hoping this is dealt with PROPERLY throughout all the schools with catholic patronage – including my own childrens school too.
The answer to all your concerns is no.
Tim, gay people are subjected to heterosexuality on a constant basis, be it going to a heterosexual wedding, seeing a heterosexual couple kissing on the street, seeing a movie filled with heterosexuals or even heterosexual advertisements on websites and on TV. For every one homosexual reference in just about anything, there are at least 10 times the number of heterosexual ones. Heterosexuality is, as you put it, incessantly shoved in gay people’s faces.
As for celebrating Gay Pride, what problem was ever solved by failing to make people aware of it?
absolutely right Brian, certain aspects of life are hard enough when gay without a hetero-normative world constantly rearing its head. People talk of a ‘gay agenda’, what rubbish. I’m 25, gay and don’t bang on about it yet am still forced to feel marginalised in a heteronormative world. Just look at tv and movies where predominantly the only acceptable form of homosexuality is absolutely ‘camp as christmas’ gay.
The government is against homophobia…while telling the schools themselves it’s ok to fire a teacher cos they are gay because of the school’s ”ethos” and while it’s TDs say it’s ok if we call it a civil union cos jesus won’t notice, but if we call it marriage that’s bad cos gayz r icky.
Well done ….(slow clap)….well done…
My sister had me laughing my ass off yesterday telling me her kids school has a ”no hitting back” policy for bullying, well isn’t that great, someone can belt you and if you hit back YOU are in trouble.
Let me tell those of you in school and parents the dirty little secret to stopping a bully. You give them a nice clear warning to p1ss off and if they ignore it, you hit them, as hard as you can, right in the face 2-3 times until they are on the ground, then you tell them if they touch you again you wil beat them until your arms are sore.
Don’t worry if they look stronger, most of that is just fat they’ve no stamina, hit them right in the face as hard as you can, right across the jaw with your middle knuckle slightly extended and a twisting motion just as you punch.
If you are gay-bi whatever, when they are lying on the ground stand over them and inform them they just got their ass handed to them by a faggot. Inform them you’ll be happy to hand it to them again, and again, and again, the beating getting harder and harder each time, until they leave you alone.
You’ll me suspended for a week, but they’ll never come near you again and you’ll have a lot more friends by the end.
Once you stand up for yourself they won’t come near you again.
Bullies want people who are weak, who will make THEM feel good by comparison, once they get their nose bloodied they stop, most of them are little bitches in reality they’ve just never had their bravado tested by having someone stand up to them. They will act like a little bitch after you hit them crying and complaining to the staff, watch and see.
That is how you stop a bully, not famby pamby HR style policies up outside the principals office.
DON’T let it become ”a fight after school” go up to them suddenly without any hint of warning and do it out of the blue thats what will be really effective.
If the govt wants to pat itself on the back for being liberal and progressive maybe they ought to get on with passing marriage equality.
To those of you voting no…I’m a weak kneed pinko for saying our prisons should not be gulags and now I’m what? an arch conservative cos I want to see bullies decked?
So for one I’m meant to shove him in solidarity and maybe throw him the odd beating, and for the other I’m meant to recommend what? Buy your bully some chocolates and flowers, give him a hug and say it’s ok to admit you hate your Dad?
Or reality ensues and that bully who looks bigger and stronger with numbers on his side turns out to be bigger and stronger with numbers, beats the living day lights out of the kid and he still gets suspended and the bullying still goes on.
Very easy to say that someone who is getting bullied should just toughen up when you’re long out of school. Frankly, it boarders on victim blaming.
You don’t stop a bully any other way. Usually the homophobic bully has VERBAL support but once they get a smack they back down.
I can’t help but note you didn’t bother to give the kids getting bullied any alternative option so I have to wonder if you have any? do you just want them to sit there and take it? and not hit back?
and I’M the one victim blaming?
Its all very well having guidelines, but will schools bother their arse to use them?
Got bullied a fair bit in secondary and the school never took it seriously, only way I eventually stop it was fight the bullys. Not something i ever wanted to do as I’m a peaceful person.
In once instance I was spat on by another class mate in a class the principal was teaching, this very much crossed the line for me so I got up out of my desk and caught the guy that did it and kicked him out of the desk and punched him several times. (he never did do it again)
i never got detention or suspension or even lines for any fights i was in including the one I was in in the middle of class, the school knew they had done nothing to prevent it so they never went after me or even accused me of doing something wrong.
No amount of policies will change bullying in schools. All of the schools I’ve experienced (including where my kids go) have no appetite to tackle bullying – it’s ignored (the Irish mantra “if you don’t talk about it, it’s not happening”).
So, I told my kids, if you are bullied, smack them in the face as hard as you can. Sure, they will get in trouble but that’s the only way to stop bullying. That’s happened a few times and he-presto, the bully no longer has the “cred” to bully and the victim is no longer a victim.
Exactly, what will happen outside the school gate? On Facebook etc.
If someone is bullied in school it’s organised by a small group (most who are afraid of the perceived strongest person and prefer to risk being the bully than be bullied)
Generally policies and posters and hyped drives towards achieving a goal of a perfect world tends to blunt the message over time.
Actively encouraging the bullied to speak to adults(teachers and parents) about it and having consequences for the bullies from the school or home on an individual basis would be more effective.
I look at some young teenage girls and boys on facebook/twitter and their conversations, “that’s gay”, “he’s a bit rapey”, “I will rape you lol!”, “your a gay”. These campaigns serve only to bring the message and language of it’s aims to an audience who may scoff at and find workarounds , whilst subsuming the language to have it’s own meaning in their peer groups.
Also the big one in dealing with this as always is PARENTING!! What goes on at home is brought into schools.
You look at young teenagers pages in facebook? Why?
Because my 13 year old niece is on facebook and I see the activity stream pop up everytime I log in.
OMG!!! LOL!!
i <3 Justin Bieber!!!
That kind of thing…
There's generally crude remarks made on innocent pictures uploaded by both boys and girls, I feel sorry for girls having to publicly deflect and constantly edit their persona and reputation online. What always amazes me though is that there tends to be nothing stopping kids from thinking twice about making comments or being horrible to people even though their names are clearly visible.
My husband says if he knew lads making comments like that about a girl when he was these guys ages, all his peers would consider him a pervert with no respect for women and these people would be ostracised for their crass behaviour.
Where's all that gone? Oh yeah, the liberal narrative took over…. coz it's kewl u kno LOL!!!
Ok. Sounded dodge otherwise
@Ryan Carroll Will you please stop writing short f**kin stories everytime you comment. Try and get straight to the point and stop preaching as well, its not easy to have a discussion when you keep going off on a big fookin spiel. Thanks and have a super happy weekend.
No, I won’t.
Some issues require elaboration and are too complex for a tweet sized comment.
Nobody forces you to read them, so stop whinging.
Incidentally, I’m not going to let you, on a page about cyberbullying, domineer me into changing the way I talk.
I’m sorry it’s too much for your limited brain RAM to grasp sometimes, but if you look at ALL of my posts, like the ones on transport today, they often ARE small.
I don’t type longer for it’s own sake, I only do it when an issue comes up that esquires more than a tweet sized comment like economic policy or human sexuality or when I’m being accused of supporting murder because I want to view all sides of a historical issue.
You find them too hard to read? or just don’t like reading long things? Don’t read them, don’t reply to me, don’t talk to me. I won’t miss you.
But some people might have the time or enquiringly mind enough to want to read some of them, and learn a new aspect of a complicated topic, just like I do for areas I know less on when others post in more detail.
If you wanna post like a 14 year old texting at the mall, go ahead. I don’t want to, and nothing forces you to read me or reply to me, in fact I’d rather you did not do either.
Sorry was that too long?
I’ll shorten it.
DUH DUH DONT REPLY TO ME OR READ MY POSTS +1 LAMO LOL K?
@Ryan – do you ever short and summarised comments?
On cyber bullying through online sites!! I think alot of people need to get a thicker skin! Imagine letting “a stranger” get to you through the net!
This is fantastic. Well done.
Also I always think lads who are gay and come out will be treated differently for a while anyway
Macca, true for some about being treated differently, but only some.
I gave two cyberbullying talks to 5th and 6th class kids today. I explained what it is, what the effects can be and the legal side to it. Most kids didn’t realise that there is a criminal aspect to bullying. It seemed most kids got it. Time will tell.
Look at the back of your kids maths books, there is a copy of an anti bullying poster printed on the inside cover.
(PS, macca hot picture!) lol
I don’t have kids didn’t know that was in books and I’m not gay pal lol
Crushed ;-)
went to an after party one night overseas whole visiting relations! Gay lad started feeling my ass, he taught I was more drunk then I was! Big mistake by him
About Time too many young lives lost
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