The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals have called for Facebook and other social networks to have dedicated cyber-bullying officers. The request for new staff comes as the association claims the waiting time of dealing with queries involving bullying is too long.
Mr. Clive Byrne, Director for NAPD commented: “Social networks ought to have a dedicated liaison officer whose job it is to take calls from schools and parents and act promptly in deleting offensive posts.” Principals had complained about slow reaction time to taking down material or in some cases, no response at all.
The Association have made the call in the wake of a survey taken with over one thousand adults. The findings were frightening with over 81% of the belief that cyber and traditional bullying are just impactful as each other on a child’s mental health. On top of this, over 50% of parents check their children’s online activity and over 63% believe that schools should ban smart phones and social networks.
The director continued that it was up to parents to educate their children on the risk involved with online activity and to combat cyber-bullying. “As increased access to technology enables the rise of online bullying, we must renew our resolve to tackle cyber risk, in particular, while at the same time treating bullying, however it presents, as an ongoing serious health risk facing children and broader society.”
However, according to the “Independent”, Facebook safety director Patricia Cartes has claimed the website can receive over 100,00 member contacts a day, which includes complaints about content on the website.
Interestingly, Facebook claimed the amount of young teenagers using their site is down on previous years just last month. The website noted that teenagers are moving on to other, faster apps like Snapchat, a instant messaging service that deletes the content immediately after you view it, which will surely prove a much bigger problem for parents and teachers alike.
