Big Kids say: Cyberbullying not a novelty

There has been so much commotion over cyberbullying lately, especially after the death of Shane McEntee (God bless his soul). The Oireachtas committee on Transport and Communication is to report to Pat Rabbitte and it is believed by many that legislation can be enacted to effectively combat this ‘new disease’. In my view there is very little the legislator can do to stop cyberbullying, which is not that different to actual bullying but for its broader, public effect – whereas actual bullying is of a more private nature. People need to be informed of how bullying works, that is the greatest ammunition of all.

I belong to the pre-internet generation, I have been a child and a parent as well as a victim of bullying in both childhood and adulthood, therefore I believe that I have formed a – reasonable – opinion overall. Let me start by saying that bullying sees no age, no gender, no culture, it is pretty much blind. It doesn’t source from the victim, but from the bullies themselves; they either have very little to satisfy them (emotionally or physically) or they have some other inclination to pain, usually not their own; or sometimes they are plainly inconsiderate. Whatever the cause for their actions, the target would be in a much better position had they known they are not being bullied out of their own fault – no one tells you that when you are on the weak end, and it is usually too late by the time you find out.