Teachers from schools across Ireland are concerned that Catholic schoolchildren are being bullied for practicing their religion as they appear ‘old fashioned’ or ‘out of the mainstream culture’. Most schools in Ireland are Catholic schools, and close to 80% of the population describe their religion as Catholic according to the 2016 Census. Yet, a growing number Read more
A Church-sponsored international summit on how to protect children from online sexual exploitation is taking place in Rome this week. Discussion topics include how children and teenagers can be protected from sextortion, sexting, cyber-bullying, harassment and exploitation. The Vatican’s top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is among those addressing the summit. His talk is entitled: “The Read more
It started, as is so often does with girls, with a whispering campaign. The gossiping was endless. “Everything I seemed to do was something to talk about. The girls would nudge each other and say: ‘Shhhh, Amelia* is there’.” School felt like a popularity contest. Amelia was asked to name the three prettiest girls in Read more
What can be more painful to a parent than losing a child to suicide? The problem of cyberbullying was brought to national attention several years ago by the passing of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide subsequent to cyberbullying by Lori Drew, the mother of another girl. Despite years of public campaigns and passage of Read more