Cyberbullying a huge issue among Leitrim teens

Cllr Brendan Barry asked Leitrim County Council to recognise that bullying is still a major issue within the county and across the country and call on parents, grandparents, teachers and communities to talk with children and teenagers about the serious effects bullying can have on those affected.
He said that bullying needs to be talked about and noted that the family of a teenage boy who died by suicide in 2021 have called set up a campaign to encourage teenagers to “Be Buddies, not Bullies.”
Cllr Barry said he wanted the council to write to schools to highlight this issue and said when discussing the topic with teachers, he was told that tackling bullying needs to start in the home and said that it was important to have “a conversation to try and prevent bullying happening.”
He said that Eden Heaslip, 18 from Co Cavan, died by suicide in September 2021 and that “his family are living with that tragedy.”
After Eden’s death, his family started an anti-bullying campaign, printing thousands of car stickers with the slogan “Be Buddies, Not Bullies” and the Heaslip family want to see more done to tackle cyber-bullying.
Cllr Mary Bohan seconded the motion and said the bullying is a “serious problem.”
She said that previously, “bullying may have been more obvious with teachers seeing it in the school yard and now it's online and it's having devastating consequences for children.”
Cllr Enda Stenson said that bullying happens to those in the public eye too and the “amount of abuse you get online is absolutely scandalous and particularly for children.”
Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said that every parent has a responsibility to ensure their children “aren't a source of bullying but unfortunately, we see it on the sidelines in underage matches and anywhere there's competitions; there's a very line between encouraging young people to do their best without encouraging them to put someone else down.”
He added, “It would be very hard to expect the children that would be leaving those people's home to behave any other way other than badly.”
Cllr Des Guckian supported the motion also, as did Cllr Felim Gurn and said he believed that social media companies need to be “held to account for their part.”