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Anti-Cyber-Bullying Policy
Scoil Naomh Abbáin aims to ensure that children are safe and feel safe from bullying, and harassment and discrimination. This school is committed to teaching children the knowledge and skills to be able to use ICT effectively, safely and responsibly.
UNDERSTANDING CYBER-
• Cyber bullying is the use of ICT (usually a mobile phone and/or the internet) to abuse another person
• It can take place anywhere and involve many people
• Anybody can be targeted including pupils and school staff
• It can include threats, intimidation, harassment, cyber-
• While bullying involves a repetition of unwelcome behaviour the Anti-
2.1.3 In addition, in the context of these procedures placing a once-
WHAT IS CYBER-
There are many types of cyber-
1. Text messages –
‘Bluejacking’ (the sending of anonymous text messages over short distances using bluetooth wireless technology)
2. Picture/video-
3. Mobile phone calls – silent calls, abusive messages or stealing the victim’s phone and using it to harass others, to make them believe the victim is responsible.
4. Emails – threatening or bullying emails, often sent using a pseudonym or somebody else’s name.
5. Chat room bullying – menacing or upsetting responses to children or young people when they are in a web-
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6. Instant messaging (IM) – unpleasant messages sent while children conduct real-
7. Bullying via websites – use of defamatory blogs (web logs), personal websites and online personal ‘own web space’ sites such as You Tube, Facebook, Ask.fm, Bebo (which works by signing on in one’s school, therefore making it easy to find a victim) and Myspace – although there are others.
Explanation of slang terms used when referring to cyber-
1 ‘Flaming’: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.
2 ‘Harassment’: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and insulting messages
3 ‘Cyber Stalking’: Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating or engaging in other on-
4 ‘Denigration’/‘ Dissing’ someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip or rumours about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships
5 ‘Impersonation’: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material online that makes someone look bad, gets her/him in trouble or danger, or damages her/his reputation or friendships
6 ‘Outing and Trickery’: Tricking someone into revealing secret or embarrassing information which is then shared online
7 ‘Exclusion’: Intentionally excluding someone from an on-
This list is not exhaustive and the terms used continue to change.
AIMS OF POLICY:
• To ensure that pupils, staff and parents understand what cyber bullying is and how it can be combated
• To ensure that practices and procedures are agreed to prevent incidents of cyber-
• To ensure that reported incidents of cyber bullying are dealt with effectively and quickly.
PROCEDURES TO PREVENT CYBER-
• Staff, pupils, parents and Board of Management (BOM) will be made aware of issues surrounding cyber bullying through the use of appropriate awareness-
• Pupils will learn about cyber bullying through Social, Personal and Health Education
(SPHE), assemblies, friendship week activities and other curriculum projects
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• The school will engage a speaker to facilitate a workshop on cyber bullying for 5th and 6th classes annually. Classes 1st to 6th will participate in the ‘Bullying in a Cyber World’ programme
• Staff CPD (Continuous Professional Development) will assist in learning about current technologies
• Parents will be provided with information and advice on how to combat cyber bullying
• Pupils will sign an Acceptable Use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) contract
• Parents will be expected to sign an Acceptable Use of ICT contract prior to enrolment and to discuss its meaning with their children
• Pupils and parents will be urged to report all incidents of cyber bullying to the school
• All reports of cyber bullying will be investigated, recorded, stored by the Principal and monitored regularly
• Procedures in our school Anti-
• The police will be contacted in all cases of actual or suspected illegal content
• This policy will be reviewed annually. Pupils, parents and staff will be involved in reviewing and revising this policy and any related school procedure.
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Bullying Report
Name of child being bullied ________________Class ______
Name(s) and class(es) of pupil(s) engaged in bullying behaviour
Location (Places where bullying is taking place Source of bullying concern (Tick relevant box(es))
Playground Pupil concerned
Classroom Other pupil
Corridor Parentconcerned
Toilets Other parent
School Bus Teacher
Other Other
Type of bullying (Tick relevant box(es))
Physical aggression Cyber-
Damage to property Intimidation
Isolation/exclusion Malicious gossip
Name calling Other (specify)
Brief description of bullying behaviour and its impact
Details of actions taken/to be taken
Signed ______________ Date _____
Date submitted to school authorities ___________