SEAN Kelly MEP will host a forum on cyberbullying at the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel on Friday September 27 at 9:30am in order to raise awareness and inspire action to prevent online bullying.
In addition to Sean Kelly, speakers also include Niall Cowley from BeatBullying, Gerard Flynn MBE, NoBullying.com founder Ciaran Connolly, secondary school teacher Sean Fallon and Cormac Keenan from Facebook.
The forum is open to everyone but is principally aimed at parents, school principals, teachers, youth groups and community liaisons, and entry to the forum is free of charge.
Cyberbullying, or bullying by social media, is a problem of epidemic proportions which mainly affects children, teenagers and young adults. It is a very serious challenge for parents, teachers, mental health and community workers and it has sparked significant debate on how to best to tackle the issue.
Research from anti-bullying organisation Beat Bullying UK shows that more than 1,700 young Europeans are at risk of death by suicide this year due to bullying and cyberbullying.
Speaking in advance of the forum, Kelly said: “We cannot allow any more young people to be tortured and negatively impacted in this way anymore and we certainly do not want any more lives lost tragically because of it. Schools should also be supported in rolling out anti-bullying programmes. I am also strongly advocating for the establishment of an EU Anti-Bullying Day to raise awareness of the issue.”
