THE PRESIDENT of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, Frank Mulvihill, has called for more forceful action to combat so-called cyber bullying on Bebo and other sites.
Speaking at the national conference of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors last night, Mr Mulvihill also called for more forceful Government initiatives on alcohol and drug abuse by young people.
Counsellors could see at first hand the impact of these problems in schools, he said. While guidance counsellors traditionally focused on careers advice, counselling of young people facing these problems was a much more important component of their work.
"We changed culture in charging for plastic bags. We changed it by banning smoking in the workplace. Let us now be brave and act on the abuse of alcohol among our youth and impose stricter sanctions on those who insist on creating a drug culture in our society."
The regular occurrence of students reporting bullying on the internet - on sites such as Bebo - had become "intolerable and, as we know from well-publicised cases, has had serious repercussions". Efforts by some website providers to introduce an anti- bullying service had failed miserably, Mr Mulvihill said.
He welcomed the proposed changes in the way student support grants will be administered but called for modifications to the income limits for low earners who have worked for part of the year previous to taking up a course.