Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
EUROPEAN MENTAL HEALTH week takes place next week and this year’s theme is ‘mentally healthy communities’. It ought to afford us all a timely opportunity to check in on our own mental health and the mental health of those around us in our community.
Many things impact our mental health and, as someone who works in an organisation that supports children and young people, I often hear and see a lot of the things that can impact negatively and, indeed, positively on the mental health and wellbeing of children and families.
The issues that impact our mental health in a negative way are often talked about in the media, frequently causing horrified reactions among the public – and rightly so. Exposure to harmful content and conduct is something that is regularly discussed. This can be bullying behaviour in the schoolyard or its environs or age-inappropriate pornographic material online.
Children who reach out to our Childline 24-Hour support line and those we engage with through our therapeutic supports have shared their experiences of bullying with us.
They speak about being alienated, intimidated, belittled, isolated, physically harmed, targeted for being ‘different’, taunted on social media platforms, amongst others. It is clear we all must do more to reduce the incidences of bullying and the harm it can cause.
Research shows that one out of every five students report being bullied. We know from listening to children and young people how bullying has significant impacts on their life, often well into adulthood.
Bullying often doesn’t just impact the mental health of the person targeted, but it can also have a profound effect on any bystander and, at times, the bully themselves. The thought of a child being bullied is a parent’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately, for too many children, being bullied whether in the schoolyard or online in their bedroom, is the sad reality that they have to face.
It’s easy to feel as a parent/carer that you’ve somehow failed your child if they have been affected by bullying, but this is simply not the case. Equally, the way to tackle bullying does not involve a one-size-fits-all solution.
Bullying is a complex social issue and those who bully and those who are bullied are found in every strata of society and in many different settings including schools, sporting and youth club activities, and social groups.
Thanks to the prevalence of social media, home is no longer a sanctuary for some. In-person bullying can continue online leaving the target with no perceived safe space.
Schools are a fundamental part of our community too. Research from the 2022 Office of the Ombudsman for Children’s report, Pieces of Us, showed that many of the children and young people quoted had experienced bullying in primary or secondary school. This experience was traumatic and negatively shaped their school experience.
Many respondents of this report felt that their school either did not believe them when they reported bullying, did not investigate incidents properly or did not do enough to address bullying.
It is important to remember that most bullying incidents when responded to in a timely and effective manner can significantly reduce the harm caused and potentially lead to better outcomes for the bullying target involved.
At ISPCC, we have developed the Shield programme, which aims to support schools, clubs and other organisations engaging with children in their efforts to proactively manage bullying and protect children from bullying through prevention and intervention strategies.
The programme was developed as a direct response to the issue of bullying and how it is impacting the mental and emotional health and wellbeing of children.
So, what do we need for mentally healthy communities? In the ISPCC we provide a suite of services under the Childline brand which helps to protect and support the mental health of children and young people, strengthening their resilience and building coping capacity.
However, it is incumbent on every member of society to do their part to minimise all forms of harmful conduct and create mentally healthy communities. We must seize every opportunity to talk to the children and young people in our lives about the stories reported in the media and viewed online, use them as conversation starters to challenge bias and to channel and promote positive and healthy behaviours.
Let’s all take time to evaluate how we are managing our own mental health and the challenges we may be experiencing, but also how we are contributing to the mental health of those around us in our communities.
Victoria Howson is ISPCC’s Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator and manages the Shield Anti-Bullying programme. The 24/7 Childline listening service is always open for any child or young person who wants to talk. You can call Childline for free at any time of the day or night on 1800 66 66 66 or use live chat on childline.ie For more information on our Shield programme, go to https://www.ispcc.ie/shield-anti-bullying-programme/
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Would you like to dance ?
No.
Sorry I think you misheard me I said your arse looks fat in that dress……….
Irish women know that most Irish men are lacking somewhat when it comes to pleasing them so they have to be more picky.
From the man’s point – its the female’s apparent hatred of hygiene. Wearing purple and pink – and thinking that Bono is cool.
And saying – I have to be up for mass tomorrow……
@Will. I’m not inclined to believe anybody that especially the hygiene bit…
Hi show us your tits.
Any of…
You are such a troll
Had a woman tell me one night, in coppers no less ” get away outta that there’s a smell of bengy off ye” that was about 15 years ago and I still have no idea what bengy is… It was Lynx Africa I told her!!
Benjy was a character in The Riordans, they were farmers, just in case you are serious.
This was a Zig and Zag joke for years. It’s a reference to Benjy from the Riordans many years ago.
GET IN THE VAN NOW! usually works
I’m Jimmy Saville works as good as that?
Can’t beat the chase of the Irish girls … the rejection. Great craic!
There are lines other than “will ya meet me mate over there?”?? huh…
I’ve lived in a few countries and Dublin women are definitely the most obnoxious and stuck up. I’ve seen a lot of my mates (no they weren’t hammered) get laughed at/told to p off by groups of very average looking women when they could have had a bit of banter or politely decline.
Thankfully I’ve never suffered it myself as I’m deadly looking but Dublin girls really need to up their game. Poland and Czech Republic have the hottest and least up themselves women. Great combo.
I love Irish men, once I get chatting to them that is, but in a nightclub Irish men can be aggressive messes (drunk, leering and just grab you) and at this point you just want to get away!
Honestly some nights the only thing you want to do is chat to your mates, have a few drinks and dance without anyone bothering you.
Also no one has brought this up but groping? How many women have been groped simply as a come on as they move through a night club or the dance floor? Not so much in Dublin but down the country! New Years Eve in Carlow was traumatic.
Headed out sat night, need to find my stick. I’ll be beating them off all night
They will probably have their own sticks……and dogs :)
My favourite chat-up line is Jimmy Carr’s “can you hold my pint while I go for a sh!t” or “here, does this rag smell like Rohypnol?”
Do you grass?
No!
Your the first cow I met that doesn’t
No woman likes a man who is hammered off his face. …. and they tend to be just that on a night out. Most chat up lines are either immensely cheesy, which is a pukefest, or immenseley vulgar… same outcome! If a guy stayed half sober I imagine he’d get a lot further :)
That may just be the ones I have come across, of course :)
Two simple steps to make sure you are never ever rejected by Mrs Shalakalananaka-
1. Ask the DJ to put on YMCA
2. Stand in front of her and dance to the whole song
Alternatively, be Benedict Cumberbatch, but my 2 step programme works as well too.
Will ya have a dance?
WHA?
Sorry, I think you misheard. I said you look fat in those pants.
Al, beat you too it ;)
You remind me of a movie star…..Mickey Rooney
Ask me sister I’m sweatin
You hav to do the Carlton from fresh prince, approach them like.. haaaaayyy..!! Then do the shuffle..
Jerseys and bad breath,no thanks
And that’s just the women…
Would you like to marry me?
I’d rather have a frontal lobotomy, a week in Cork – and three of my arms severed by a werewolf from Balinrobe….,…
Nothing has changed since the 60′s so!
Any women who spend the first 17-18 years of their lives in a convent are bound to hold certain prejudices. But because it’s so common in Ireland it’s often overlooked.
That’s a very 20th century point of view.
I’d always be up for a bit of banter because some guys can be very funny with their chat up lines. There was an awkward moment where a guy sidled up and attempted flirtation while the husband was standing beside me. We all had a laugh about it and chatted throughout the night. If a guy chances his arm and keeps it respectful, don’t tell him to F off, take it as a compliment and if you’re not interested don’t be a cow about it. I don’t like when a guy gets aggressive or messy and then threatening and abusive when you decline his sweaty, groping advances.
Your eyes are like spanners love, every time I look into them they tighten my nuts…..
Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
Rohypnol you mean?
This site seems to really hate any form humour??? But they seem to back the clowns in government without knowing “taylor rules” within the E.U. structure for here?
Does this skirt make me look fat, no dear it is just the fat?
In ireland its always the pub,if you see a woman you like on wednesday at the petrol pumps ask her out,women arent always in the pub to meet men,they go out sometimes to just dance and dont want a man
“Me friend wants to know will you go with me” ah the innocence!
Because they are rotten with drink or have small wallets lol.
Eat grass
have your say