A new YouTube channel has been created in association with UK charity Beatbullying with messages from celebrities like Ronan Keating, Danni Minogue and Girls Aloud discouraging cyberbullying among school children.
This channel will deal with new, emerging forms of bullying like happy slapping, abuse text messaging and online ‘ganging up’.
Sites such as YouTube frequently unknowingly play host to happy slapping videos, usually filmed on mobile phones, which involve attacking a stranger and capturing it on camera for posting on the internet.
Ronan Keating advises children to follow the advice: if you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face then don’t say it online.
The YouTube channel will allow children to post their own videos and messages as well as seeking advice on how to handle bullies, and supporting the stamping out of bullying.
The National Centre for Technology in Education has a website www.webwise.ie for information on internet safety for children.
Webwise.ie has been working with the support service for the Junior Cycle subject SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education) to develop a suite of 13 lessons and classroom resources called Be Safe Be Webwise for both teachers and students.
Topics addressed include cyberbullying and information and privacy online.
By Marie Boran