Parenting: Children are not outside the law if they are guilty of online harassment and bullying

By Louise Flanagan

Handing a smartphone to a child is sure to be a daunting experience for any parent.

Yes, the child will be ecstatic; there will be hugs and shouts of “best parents ever!”

There will also be stern warnings about responsible phone use. Ground rules will be established and the child will nod and say, “Yes, I know. “I promise.”

And after that? Well, I guess mostly we just hope for the best.

My oldest son is ten years old and we hold out as long as possible on the phone front. She’s a great girl and I trust her, but handing her a phone seems like handing her something dangerous.

The older you are when you have one, the more sense it will make.

That’s at least the reason.

But by the time kids reach high school, the vast majority have a phone.

They are still very young, at a vulnerable developmental stage in their lives, and the phone can amplify the drama and cause a lot of chaos, even when they are technically considered “old enough” to have one.

I work in a secondary school and recently a member of An Garda Síochána came to speak at a school assembly about acceptable phone use.

It was really revealing.

In recent years, new laws have been introduced giving Gardaí much more power to tackle harassment and bullying that occurs via mobile devices.

It is known as Coco’s law. Children who use their phones to humiliate or intimidate other children can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The Gardaí can land at your home with a search warrant and confiscate your phone and you will be charged with very serious criminal offences.

Generally speaking, I think a lot of us were under the impression that “they’re underage, so all they’re going to get is a slap on the wrist.”

No. The Gardaí take this very seriously and there are laws that give them the power to act.

If your child is subject to any form of bullying on social media or smartphones, please take the evidence to the Gardaí and they will take action.

There was a time when their hands were tied and they couldn’t do much because there were no laws in place, but now there are, and they really mean business.

Humiliation and intimidation have always been morally wrong; It is now also a criminal offense, no matter how old the perpetrator is.

The Garda also told us about the new laws relating to child pornography.

That phrase gives me chills and I can’t believe this problem is so common.

Under the law, if a minor (say between 13 and 17 years old) takes a nude photo of themselves and sends it to someone, they can be arrested and convicted of creating and distributing child pornography.

The teenager who receives that image can also be charged with possession of child pornography.

In both cases, it will be recorded in your records and will have obvious implications for future employment, travel, etc.

We live in scary times when those laws must exist, but thank God they exist to protect us all.

This information is shared in good faith, but I am not a legal expert.

There is much more to learn and understand about criminal offenses related to phone misuse.

The website www.webwise.ie has excellent resources on this topic and is well worth a look.

Also, if your school or local community is hosting an information session on phone and internet safety, please attend to help keep all of our young people out of harm’s way.

Louise Flanagan is the administrator of the Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the Dragonterra and Dream Beasts children’s book series. www.dragonterra.es

Published: 2:00 pm September 28, 2024