Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has today (Tuesday) welcomed the ban imposed by the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) which prohibits secondary school children from taking photographs of each other or of school staff in a bid to combat cyber bullying.

Deputy Mitchell O’Connor went on to say that incidents of ‘sexting’, whereby young children and adolescents send sexually explicit messages or photographs to each other via their mobile phones, are having a detrimental impact on our children’s lives and giving them a distorted perception of the world around them.

“The move by the JMB to advise its 400 members that students should not be allowed to take photographs of each other or staff members within the school setting, unless it is for a school project, will go some way towards tightening the grip on cyber bullying.

“The victimisation of school children and staff via social websites or mobile phone technology is getting out of hand, with three young deaths being attributed to it in as many months. Action is being taken, through this and other measures with the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS) taking steps to deal with online abuse and the harassment of staff and pupils. The Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn TD, is also engaged with an Expert Group which is working on comprising up-to-date rules and guidelines which will assist schools in dealing with bullying of all sorts, including that which occurs online.

“Our children are growing up in a world that is very different to even a decade ago. Advances in technology is leading, in many ways, to the sexualisation of our children at much earlier stages of life, as they have access to all manner of images and adult content online.

“Sexting, which is increasingly common, not only among our adolescents but also among younger children, desensitizes young people to sexual activity and leads them to believe that this kind of behaviour is, in fact, normal. If this explicit communication is treated as a bit of risqué fun among the peer group, our children are being given an exceptionally distorted view of the world around them as they develop and grow, with serious consequences being stored up for the future.

“Our children are so vulnerable and when it comes to things of a sexual and explicit nature, they do not often know right from wrong. It’s time to take a step back and to ensure that technology is given the space it deserves in our and our children’s worlds; to teach them and enhance their lives in a positive way.”