A LEADING Limerick secondary school led the way for Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s recent initiative on school bullying by introducing its own anti-bullying campaign over eighteen months ago.
Stressing that every school has a problem with bullying, St. Munchin’s College acting principal David Quilter told the Limerick Post that since the start of the project “the school hasn’t had a major bullying issue in the past twelve months”.
“We found that detention wasn’t a solution. We don’t contact parents at first about a problem with a pupil. He is given an opportunity to change and if he doesn’t commit to change, then we bring in the parents. Now we have regular surveys and get feedback and we are being tipped off much earlier and can deal with a situation as it arises” he added.
He said the campaign urges students to “open up and talk – tell, tell, tell”.
St. Munchin’s is currently undergoing a €7.6 million redevelopment and its five hundred students took part in an anti-bullying week to highlight their determination to make the college a bullying free zone.
Parents were recently given a summary of the campaign which involved all classes undertaking a week of discussion and being shown videos dealing with the topic. Older students spoke to first years about their experiences.
The school had an anti-bullying poster and writing competitions for all year groups while first years also had an anti-bullying slogan competition. All winning entries were copied, laminated and posted on the walls around the school.
The summary concludes that this year both students and staff have been very vigilant in watching out for any student who may be treated unfairly or disrespectfully by others and increasingly students are taking on this role. Some class groups were surveyed at least twice and every report of possible bullying has been fully investigated.
In a bid to stamp out bullying in schools across the country, Minister Quinn outlined new proposals that have to be implemented in every school by September. These include teachers reporting incidents of bullying; schools keeping records of bullying incidents; training for parents and boards of management; new guidelines to prevent and tackle homophobic and trans-phobic bullying; a media campaign focused on cyber bullying and the establishment of an anti-bullying website.
Above: The St. Munchin’s College crest
