Crowe Supports Anti Bullying Awareness Month

Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe TD  said today that he fully supports the  Anti-Bullying Awareness Month which began in March.

Crowe was speaking after the  launch by Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) of their annual anti bullying initiative which he said was worth while and an innovative approach to the bullying problem.

Deputy  Seán Crowe said:

“The issue of bullying is increasingly a very real and growing problem for a large number of children in Ireland. With the surge in children’s and teenagers’ access to interactive and social media, the reality of bullying has become a huge challenge to deal with not only within schools but also during many children’s free time.

“In March 2012 the ISPCC launched their Shield Anti-Bullying Campaign, with a plan to work towards protecting vulnerable children from bullying. Their services not only provide  young people with the necessary coping skills to deal with and protect themselves from bullying, but also crucially helps empower them against this activity.

“The successful Shield Anti-Bullying Campaign is now in its fourth year and almost 200 schools across Ireland have availed of the Shield My School Anti-Bullying Toolkit. This successful initiative is growing by leaps and bounds every year and I commend the ISPCC for responding with this really useful awareness strategy.

“The more we talk and debate this issue and its impact on children then the more aware we become as a society, of the real and growing dangers facing  vulnerable children in school and community settings. Bullying and bullies promote hatred, isolation and fear. Its way past the time that we collectively said stop.

“Well done again to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children for this worth while and an innovative approach to the bullying problem.”