ISPCC’s Shield Week Highlights How Schools and Clubs Can Help Combat Bullying

“ I can’t go back there. I just never want to go to that school or see them again. I am scared of what they will do to me next,”  Child, worried about bullying in school, speaking to an ISPCC Childline call facilitator.

Bullying can have a devastating impact on the victim, which can last a lifetime. Thousands of children call the ISPCC’s Childline service every year to talk about how bullying is affecting them. This September, the ISPCC is encouraging schools, teachers, parents and pupils all over Ireland to make sure their school stands up against bullying, and participates in the Shield Programme in 2017/18. 

The Shield programme, developed by the ISPCC, the national child protection charity, provides schools and clubs with the resources and tools they need to tackle bullying effectively. Shield’s four elements, the Self-evaluation, the Shield Youth Award, the Shield Flag and the Standing Up Online Form, all support teachers and students to work together and take action to make their school a better place. 

ISPCC Anti Bullying Coordinator, Helen Mortimer, said “Many children and young people are struggling every day to cope with bullying in the classroom, the schoolyard, on the internet and within communities. Childline receives thousands of calls every year from children impacted by bullying.  This summer, homophobic bullying was referenced by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD as a priority that needs addressing.  

“We know that schools need support to combat bullying. The Shield Programme is an effective, evidence-informed programme that supports schools to achieve this goal, and helps to ensure that children and young people are protected and ‘shielded’ from bullying. It is proven to be effective, and we’d like to see more schools taking it on as a priority”.

The FCJ Secondary School, Bunclody, Co.Wexford is one of the schools that has been successful in using the Shield Programme and achieving its pinnacle award, the Shield Flag. Deputy Principal Brendan Daly said “We found the Shield Programme really beneficial in our anti-bullying work. We undertook an  anti- bullying policy review and adopted a new whole-school approach – increasing awareness of the different types of bullying as well as investigating and dealing with bullying issues. 

“The Shield programme was really enlightening in enabling us to identify what we had already achieved and what needed to be done to make our school a safer place for all our students. We consider being awarded the Shield Flag a great honour. We believe our school is a better place as a result of undertaking the Shield programme, while acknowledging that the journey is never over and that we must constantly strive to reduce and prevent incidents of bullying. We would certainly urge other schools to take on the Shield programme and get everyone involved in standing up against bullying”.

Helen Mortimer said “The Shield programme is an ideal and free resource, to help schools, clubs and other organisations tackle bullying. The steps are simple and effective, and using the talents of everyone involved is the key to making this happen. The ISPCC is here to help, and any school interested in taking on the shield programme can contact us directly on shield@ispcc.ie”
This year’s ISPCC Shield Week runs from September 18th-22nd and highlights the range of services available to the wider community to help them respond proactively to the issue of bullying.

Bullying is everyone’s business. We are standing up against bullying – are you?