Tots to Teens: Advice on dealing with bullying from Dublin City University
Laura Woods is calling on schools and students across Ireland to become battery recycling champions as part of the WEEE Ireland Schools Battery Recycling Competition. She is joined by Isabelle Khumnariang age 10 (l), Molly Farrelly age 9, Eve Geoghegan age 10, and Abigail Craven age 9 from Scoil Naomh Padraig, who collected the equivalent of 20,600 AA batteries to win in their category. Pic: Andres Poveda Photography.
RESEARCH carried out by the Anti-Bullying Centre at Dublin City University shows that 22.4% of primary and 11.8% of post-primary students experience it at some stage.
Parents can find it difficult to support their children through such experiences, which is why the national mental health charity Turn2Me has launched a support group.
The group will meet online at 7pm on Wednesday, October 25 and Wednesday, November 29. Facilitated by a mental health professional, it will allow parents to share their concerns and learn how to keep their children safe.
Turn2Me also has tips for those who are unable to attend these sessions. Most importantly, it urges parents to keep the channels of communication open so their children know they can come to them with their worries.
Because bullying often happens online, the charity advises parents to encourage children to delete social media apps from their phones and devices.
If children are interested in a particular sport or activity, suggest they join a local club or organisation specialising in it. The more they broaden their circle of friends, the less attention they are likely to pay to bullies at school.
Plan fun family activities to give children something to look forward to. And, if the bullying persists, seek help from the school.
- Register for the Parent and caregiver support group for free at www.turn2me.ie
If you’d like your child to discover the magic of reading and raise money for a good cause, sign them up for this year’s MS Readathon.
Taking place for the 36th year, Ireland’s biggest sponsored reading initiative raises much-needed funds for MS Ireland. It has also fostered a lifelong love of reading among the thousands of children who have taken part.
MS Ireland offers support to some 10,000 people who live with multiple sclerosis, the most common neurological condition affecting young adults.
- To sign up, see msreadathon.ie
A nationwide school initiative has just broken its own record by diverting the equivalent of two million used AA batteries from landfill and recycling them instead. Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland’s Schools Battery Recycling Competition is Ireland’s largest e-waste and battery recycling scheme.
Teachers, families and the wider community are encouraged to help students collect as many used batteries as possible. Each school that succeeds in filling at least ten 5kg boxes with batteries is entered into a competition to win sports vouchers worth €2,000.
There’s a charitable side to the initiative too, with WEEE Ireland donating money to Ireland’s children’s hospice charity LauraLynn for each battery recycled.
“It’s a chance for this generation to take on an important challenge, to make a contribution to a greener environment and to help the children and families who rely on LauraLynn’s services and support,” said TV presenter Laura Woods, who launched this year’s contest.
- Interested schools can visit weeeireland.ie for more information.
It’s Black History Month and to mark the occasion, Little Island Books has just published .
Aimed at teenagers, the book showcases the lives and achievements of Black and mixed-race Irish people.
It features historical and current figures from the worlds of the arts, sports, business, fashion, politics and social activism as well as lesser-known personalities working to make a difference in Irish communities today.
From Paul McGrath and Phil Lynott to Ruth Negga and Gavin Bazunu, it’s a celebration of how exciting it is to be Black and Irish.
- It’s available in all bookshops for €14.99
