Cyber bullying: Many schools failing to teach children about online safety, E-Safety Commissioner warns

SCHOOLS are failing to protect Australian children from cyber bullying as some “totally miss the boat” on teaching students about online safety, a top Federal Government adviser says.

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SCHOOLS are failing to protect children from cyber bullying as some “totally miss the boat” on teaching students about online safety, a top Federal Government adviser says.

E-safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said most of the bullying reported to her office was “an extension of what’s happening in the schoolyard”.

She wants her office expanded into South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania to have a direct presence in every state to train teachers about online harassment.

Ms Inman Grant also raised doubt about whether creating tough criminal laws on cyber bullying would deter teenagers from the hateful behaviour.

“There isn’t consistent and comprehensive online safety education. Some schools do it really well, some schools totally miss the boat,” she said.

E-safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: Luke Marsden

Ms Inman Grant called for a comprehensive pre-school to Year 12 curriculum on online safety because short courses only had a limited impact on behaviour. “Most of the bullying (the commission sees) is peer-to-peer and an extension of what’s happening in the schoolyard,” she said.

She said there was a role for criminal laws for the most “egregious offenders” but that prevention and early intervention was the most important tool to combat cyber bullying. “Maybe we should sit down and talk to a 13 or 14-year-old and see whether a criminal law would serve as a real deterrent to them sending that menacing tweet or post,” she told a Senate inquiry.

“Young people that age may not understand the implications of the law – they probably wouldn’t be able to read and interpret that.”

Young people involved in cyber bullying may not fully understand the implications of the law. Picture: iStock

She also wondered whether local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors would have an “appetite” to charge children with criminal offences.

In the 700 cases of online bullying and harassment the eSafety Commission has dealt with, it had not handed out an “end-user notice”.

The Commissioner has the power to give a notice to a person posting the cyber-bullying material forcing them to remove the material, refrain from posting more and/or apologise.

Ms Inman Grant said her office tended to provide mental health support to children who were bullying rather than issue an end-user notice.

“We often do see that those that are bullying may be bullied in another context, so we try through out investigative process to gather facts and understand what might be motivating that,” she said.

“We’ve certainly seen cases in other jurisdictions when a government has come down hard on a young person and that has had detrimental impacts on that child.”

If you are suffering from cyber bullying, you can call Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.

Originally published as Cyber bullying: Many schools failing to teach children about online safety, E-Safety Commissioner warns