Call for teachers to register for FUSE Anti-Bullying & Online Safety Programme 2020/2021

Call for teachers to register for FUSE Anti-Bullying & Online Safety Programme 2020/2021

The National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre (ABC) at DCU is welcoming registration for the FUSE Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme 2020/ 2021.

Now entering its second year, the programme was developed by ABC and supported by Facebook for students in post-primary schools (2nd year). It has five modules designed to increase confidence in young people’s ability to identify and deal with bullying situations in person and online, either as a victim or bystander, how to take appropriate action to report these incidents and how to be safe online.

FUSE trains teachers as champions within each school, who can then peer train other teachers, and parents, in how best to tackle a range of online and offline bullying issues and educate them on online safety.

The programme launched in September 2019 across Ireland and has trained 385 teachers from 43 schools and engaged with over 1,600 post-primary students to date. ABC and Facebook are urging teachers and principals to register for the training days, which will be delivered throughout the next academic year, starting in September.

Darran Heaney, Project Manager at the Anti-Bullying Centre said: 

“We know from our research that 65% of bullying victims do not tell an adult about their experience. This shows the need for this youth-led intervention that focuses on bringing together all the major stakeholders within the school community in open discussion and empowering students to tackle bullying and online safety.

Almost 400 teachers trained with us last year and we’re delighted to be rolling this programme again, particularly given the emphasis and importance of online safety now that children are relying more on smartphones and other digital devices for educational purposes. We would welcome any interested school teacher or principal to get in touch with us for more information.”

Sign up and become a FUSE school at https://antibullyingcentre.ie/fuse/