Don’t let balanced cyberbullying report fall through departmental cracks

Youth website SpunOut.ie today welcomed the report on social media, produced by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, as being a balanced approach to tackling the negative aspects of some online behaviour.

“Despite alarmist contributions from some Oireachtas members during the hearings, the report is both balanced in it’s approach and comprehensive in nature but it will require significant level of cross departmental co-operation from the Government to ensure it is implemented.” says SpunOut.ie spokesperson Ian Power.

“We have seen many instances in the past where recommendations which require a multi-agency response have been left to gather dust on a shelf rather than being acted upon.”

“It is vital a single existing Government agency is given responsibility for driving this report’s implementation and acting upon the sensible recommendations it contains.”

The main recommendations from the report are:

• Parents should be responsible for making sure their children are not signed up to social networks which have age restrictions (e.g. under 13s on Facebook)
• Child Protection Guidelines should include guidance for all professionals working with children as to how to deal with issues relating to cyberbullying
• Schools should be provided with a specific protocol for dealing with cyberbullying
• Employers should have a social media policy and make all employees aware of it
• A review of the registration of prepaid SIM cards to investigate if all SIMs should require registration at the point of sale
• A single body to be given responsibility for coordinating the regulation of social media content
• Professional development for those working in the criminal justice system so they are clear as to how to deal with cases of bullying and cyberbullying
• Education of parents, teachers and children on how to use social media safely, including a peer-to-peer education approach for young people

Link to the report http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/Report-on-Social-Media-July-2013-Website.pdf

For further information:

Ian Power, Communications Officer, SpunOut.ie

083 148 4527

ian@spunout.ie