Cad is Bulaíocht ann ?
WHAT IS BULLYING?
Bullying can occur through several types of anti-social behaviour. It is usually continuous and does not relate to ‘one off’ or isolated incidents. It can be:-
a) PHYSICAL - FISICIÚIL.
A child can be physically punched, kicked, hit, spat at, etc.
b) VERBAL - Ó BHÉAL.
Verbal abuse can take the form of name calling. It may be directed towards gender, ethnic origin, physical/social disability, or personality, etc.
c) EXCLUSION - EISIAMH.
A child can be bullied simply by being excluded from discussions/activities with those they believe to be their friends.
d) GOID NÓ DAMÁISTE DO SHEALÚCHAS /
e) DAMAGE TO PROPERTY OR THEFT
Pupils may have their property damaged or stolen. Physical threats may be used by the bully in order that the pupil hand over property to them.
f) Bulaíocht Cyper /
CYBER-BULLYING [ Féach ar / Ref.: Appendix 1 ].

I nGaelscoil Choráin táimid ag síor-chothú atmaisféar agus láithreán saor ó bhulaíocht, áit nach bhfuil tromaíocht ceadaithe ná á ghlacadh ag múinteoirí, tuismitheoirí ná páistí /

ENDEAVOURS IN GAELSCOIL CHORÁIN TO FOSTER A BULLYING FREE ENVIRONMENT
The following procedures are in place to encourage positive behaviour
? The school has a written code of conduct, a copy of which is provided to each parent and is explained to each class in detail.
? Supervision is provided in the classrooms, corridors, yard and in the general school environs.
? The yard has various activities painted on the surface to encourage positive playtime between the students during break.
? Each class teacher encourages the skills of cooperation, compromise and general good manners.
? Group work in the classroom is utilised to help foster this type of atmosphere.
? Posters and mottos adorn the school to remind the children.
? During the first term of each year, classes in how to deal with bullying are taught.

Céard is féidir a dhéanamh más íobartach thú ?
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU ARE BEING BULLIED?
Is breá leis an mbulaí má fhanann tú ciúin !
Remember that your silence is the bully’s greatest weapon!
a) Tell yourself that you do not deserve to be bullied, and that it is WRONG!
b) Be proud of who you are. It is good to be individual.
c) Try not to show that you are upset. It is hard but a bully thrives on someone’s fear.
d) Stay with a group of friends/people. There is safety in numbers.
e) Be assertive - shout "No!" Walk confidently away. Go straight to a teacher or member of staff.
f) Fighting back may make things worse. If you decide to fight back, talk to a teacher or parent/guardian first.
g) Generally it is best to tell an adult you trust straight away. You will get immediate support.
h) The múinteoirí will take you seriously and will deal with bullies in a way which will end the bullying and will not make things worse for you.
MÁ TÁ AITHNE AGAT AR ÍOBARTACH /
IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS BEING BULLIED:-

A. TAKE ACTION! Watching and doing nothing looks as if you are on the side of the bully. It makes the victim feel more unhappy and on their own.
B. If you feel you cannot get involved, tell an adult IMMEDIATELY. Teachers have ways of dealing with the bully without getting you into trouble.

MAR THUISMITHEOIR / AS A PARENT:

a) Look for unusual behaviour in your children. For example, they may suddenly not wish to attend school, feel ill regularly, or not complete work to their normal standard.
b) Always take an active role in your child’s education. Enquire how their day has gone, who they have spent their time with, how lunchtime was spent etc.
c) It is important to differentiate between isolated confrontational incidents and bullying but if you feel your child may be a victim of bullying behaviour, inform the School immediately. Your complaint will be taken seriously and appropriate action will follow.
d) It is important that you advise your child not to fight back. It can make matters worse!
e) Tell your own son or daughter there is nothing wrong with him or her. It is not his or her fault that they are being bullied.
f) Make sure your child is fully aware of the School policy concerning bullying, and that they will not be afraid to ask for help.
g) ‘Gaelscoil Choráin does not welcome Bullies !!’

MAR SCOIL / AS A SCHOOL:

a) Organise the community in order to minimise opportunities for bullying, e.g. provide increased supervision at problem times.
b) Use any opportunity to discuss aspects of bullying, and the appropriate way to behave towards each other, e.g. the RSE / Bí Folláin/Stay Safe programme.
c) Deal quickly, firmly and fairly with any complaints, involving parents where necessary.
d) Review the School Policy and its degree of success.
e) The School Staff will continue to have a firm but fair discipline structure. The rules should be few, simple and easy to understand.
f) Not use teaching materials or equipment which give a bad or negative view of any group because of their ethnic origin, sex, etc.
g) Encourage pupils to discuss how they get on with other people and to form positive attitudes towards other people. This includes a review of what friendship really is.
h) Encourage pupils to treat everyone with respect.
a) We will treat bullying as a serious offence and take every possible action to eradicate it from our School.

Próiséas a leanúint /
PROCEDURE WHEN BULLYING IS SUSPECTED.
All reports of bullying, no matter how trivial will be noted, investigated and dealt with by all teachers. In this way pupils will gain confidence in “telling”. This confidence factor is of vital importance.

Céimeanna i dtosach /INITIAL STEPS FOR TEACHERS DEALING WITH BULLYING INCIDENTS:

1. Listen to the victim / witness who is reporting the bullying.
2. Do not ask leading questions nor make suggestions to the child.
3. Offer reassurance that the incident shall be dealt with.
4. Do not stop the child reporting really significant events.
5. Discuss the events with the victim, the alleged bully and any other witnesses.
6. Record these discussions accurately (tuairisc tromaíochta)
7. If bullying is proven the following disciplinary steps are taken:

CÉIMEANNA SMACHTA /DISCIPLINARY STEPS
1) They will be warned officially to stop offending by the class teacher.
2) Offenders shall be sent to the Principal’s office
3) Informing the bullies’ Parent(s)/Guardian(s): In Journal or by Telephone
4) A meeting between Parent(s) / Guardian(s), the Principal and the Class Teacher.
5) If they do not stop bullying they will be suspended for a minor fixed period.
6) If they then carry on they will be recommended for suspension for a major fixed period.
7) If they will not end such behaviour, they will be requested to appear before the Board of Management of Gaelscoil Choráin with their Parent(s)/Guardian(s) where all possible sanctions, up to and including possible expulsion, from Gaelscoil Choráin may be considered / decided.

Gaelscoil Choráin will apply discretion as to the degree, and seriousness, of the disciplinary response outlined above mindful of the nature and gravity of the particular bullying incident.

In addition to discipline, we also try to help the bullies in the following ways:
? by talking about what happened, to discover why they became involved.
? informing the bullies’ Parent(s) / Guardian(s).
? by continuing to work with the bullies in order to get rid of prejudiced attitudes as far as possible.

We support the victims in the following ways:
? by offering them an immediate opportunity to talk about the experience with their class teacher, or another teacher if they choose.
? informing the victims’ Parent(s) / Guardian(s).
? by offering continuing support when they feel they need it.
? by taking one or more of the aforementioned disciplinary steps to prevent more bullying.

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Appendix I

Polasaí Frith-Bhulaíochta Cyber (Dréacht) /
Anti-Cyber-Bullying Policy (Draft).

Gaelscoil Choráin aims to ensure that children are safe and feel safe from bullying, harassment and discrimination. This school is committed to teaching children the knowledge and skills to be able to use ICT effectively, safely and responsibly.

Tuiscint faoi Bhulaíocht-Cyber /
UNDERSTANDING CYBER-BULLYING:
Cyber bullying is the use of ICT (usually a mobile phone and or the internet) to abuse another person
o It can take place anywhere and involve many people
o Anybody can be targeted including pupils and school staff
o It can include threats, intimidation, harassment, cyber-stalking, vilification, defamation, exclusion, peer rejection, impersonation, unauthorized publication of private information or images etc.
o While bullying involves a repetition of unwelcome behaviour the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools, September 2013, states:
2.1.3. In addition, in the context of these procedures placing a once-off offensive or hurtful public message, image or statement on a social network site or other public forum where that message, image or statement can be viewed and/or repeated by other people will be regarded as bullying behaviour.

Cad é Bulaíocht-Cyber ? / WHAT IS CYBER-BULLYING?
There are many types of cyber-bullying. The more common types are:
1. Text messages – can be threatening or cause discomfort. Also included here is:
a. Bluejacking’ (the sending of anonymous text messages over
short distances using bluetooth wireless technology)
2. Picture/video-clips via mobile phone cameras – images sent to others to make the victim feel threatened or embarrassed
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-based chat room
6. Instant messaging (IM) – unpleasant messages sent while children conduct real-time conversations online using MSM (Microsoft Messenger), Yahoo Chat or similar tools
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-bullying activity:
‘Flaming’: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language
1. ‘Harassment’: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and insulting messages
2. ‘Cyber Stalking’: Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating or engaging in other on-line activities that make a person afraid for his or her own safety
3. ‘Denigration’: ‘Dissing’ someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships
4. ‘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
5. ‘Outing and Trickery’: Tricking someone into revealing secret or embarrassing information which is then shared online
6. ‘Exclusion’: Intentionally excluding someone from an on-line group, like a ‘buddy list’
This list is not exhaustive and the terms used continue to change.

Aidhmeanna an Pholasaí / 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-bullying
? To ensure that reported incidents of cyber bullying are dealt with effectively and quickly.

Coras chun cosc a chur le Bulaíocht-Cyber /
PROCEDURES TO PREVENT CYBER-BULLYING:

• Staff, pupils, parents and Board of Management (BoM) will be made aware of issues surrounding cyber bullying through the use of appropriate awareness-raising exercises
• Pupils will learn about cyber bullying through Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE), assemblies, friendship week activities and other curriculum projects
• 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 in the Principal’s
• office and monitored regularly
• Disciplinary Procedures in our school’s Anti-Bullying Policy shall apply
• An Garda Síochána will be contacted in 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

Eolas do Dhaltaí / INFORMATION FOR PUPILS:

If you are being bullied by phone or on the Internet:
Remember, bullying is never your fault. It can be stopped and it can usually be traced.
? Don?t ignore the bullying. Tell someone you trust, such as a teacher or parent or call an advice line.
? Try to keep calm. If you are frightened, try to show it as little as possible. Don?t get angry, it will only make the person bullying you more likely to continue.
? Don?t give out your personal details online – if you are in a chat room, do not say where you live, the school you go to, your email address etc. All these things can help someone who wants to harm you to build up a picture about you.
? Keep and save any bullying emails, text messages or images. Then you can show them to a parent or teacher as evidence.
? If you can, make a note of the time and date bullying messages or images were sent, and note any details about the sender
? There is plenty of online advice on how to react to cyber bullying. For example,
Ie.reachout.com and www.wiredsafety.org have some useful tips.

Text/video messaging
? You can easily stop receiving text messages for a while by turning-off incoming messages for a couple of days. This might stop the person texting you by making them believe you?ve changed your phone number
? If the bullying persists, you can change your phone number. Ask your mobile service provider about this.
? Don?t reply to abusive or worrying text or video messages.
? Your mobile service provider will have a number for you to ring or text to report phone bullying. Visit their website for details.
? Don?t delete messages from cyber bullies. You don?t have to read them, but you should keep them as evidence.
Suíomhanna Griosáin Molta / Useful Websites:

www.spunout.ie www.childnet.int.org
www.kidsmart.org.uk/beingsmart www.antibullying.net
www.bbc.co.uk./schools/bullying http://ie.reachout.com
www.childline.ie/index.php/support/bullying/1395
www.abc.tcd.ie
www.chatdanger.com
www.sticksandstones.ie
www.kidpower.org

Tábhachtach / Important :

The Principal will provide a general outline report to the Board of Management, on a once-a-term basis, on any bullying incident dealt with at Gaelscoil Choráin.

Cur i bfheidhm / Implementation :

Gaelscoil Choráin’s Anti-Bullying Policy, including Anti-Cyber Bullying, was formally ratified by the Board of Management on _______________ and is effective from that date and shall be reviewed on a _________ basis.

Síniú : _________________ Dáta : ___________
Cathaoirleach