WORDS can be dangerous weapons and social media is increasingly being used as a deadly tool to convey hateful and hurtful messages to individuals and groups.
Last month the Limerick Post reported that the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) received more than 7,970 calls from all over Ireland to its Childline service in 2013 from children and young people in relation to bullying.
According to the ISPCC’s findings, 26 per cent of young people in secondary school have been victims of bullying, or know someone who has. Twenty two per cent of young people in primary school have been victims of bullying, or know someone who has, and 40 per cent of nine year olds were victims of bullying in the last year.
These statistics show that bullying is clearly a very real problem in Ireland and one that is affecting children at a very young age. Unfortunately, as the Limerick Post front page story revealed last week, it is not just children and immature teenagers who are using social media to inflict verbal and emotional abuse.
Leaving politics at the front door, the recent online attack on Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan on the ‘We Won’t Pay The Water Tax – Limerick’ facebook page was deeply offensive to both the Limerick TD and all right-thinking people. What was most shocking, is the fact that the vile and repulsive comments were not made by 13-year-olds but by full-grown adults who should know better. With the ISPCC and schools working so hard to wipe out the culture of bullying in the classroom and on social media, last week’s attack simply rubber stamped this type of cowardly behaviour.
The Limerick Post did some serious soul-searching before reprinting in our story some of the heinous comments posted on the social media site, but ultimately as unsettled as we felt, believed it was important that we report the true level of this ugly abuse. Decent and hardworking families have been unduly hurt during the recession with loss of jobs, homes and a never-ending cycle of taxes. That said, we live in a democratic state and the ballot box is the proper forum to let politicians know what we think. Punch about the waist people, and keep it dignified.
