Latest news with #Deis
Irish Examiner
24-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Colman Noctor: Digital safety needs a village, not an app
A new study from the ESRI confirms what many of us have long suspected — that the digital world our children inhabit is complex, sometimes enriching, often overwhelming, and largely unregulated. Navigating it requires more than parental intuition; it necessitates societal scaffolding and collective action. As I have stated in this column many times before, 'technology is neither good nor bad; it's both'. The evidence-based report, titled 'The pressing need to address the challenges of parenting in a digital era', is compassionate towards parents who, for the most part, are striving to do the right thing. It avoids scaremongering and oversimplified 'screen time' mantras, instead providing a balanced view that technology can both empower and imperil a child's wellbeing, sometimes simultaneously. The study highlights the benefits of children's digital engagement, including access to information, tools for creativity, and online support communities. It recognises that the online world offers opportunities for connection to children who might otherwise be isolated, and that digital spaces can provide modes of expression and connection that face-to-face interactions may not. However, it also states that these benefits coexist with very real risks. The report also explores how gender, developmental stage, and socioeconomic context influence children's technology experiences. The socioeconomic context is particularly significant as it indicates that a child with access to supportive adults and digital literacy resources is more likely to navigate the online world in a markedly different way than a child who lacks these protective factors. The acknowledgement of the socioeconomic difference aligns with recently published research from online safety charity CyberSafeKids, which found that children from disadvantaged areas are more likely to own a smartphone at a younger age and have fewer rules governing their online activity. It found 53% of eight-year-olds attending Deis schools own a smartphone, whereas it is 22% in non-Deis schools. While I support primary schools introducing 'voluntary codes' to delay smartphone ownership, my concern is this will be limited to pockets of leafy suburbs and miss children in areas of disadvantage who may not have the resources to implement such a strategy. Parenting in a digital age The relationship with technology is complex and varies from individual to individual. For some, social media fosters connection; for others, it leads to negative comparison. Gaming can be a form of play or a spiral of compulsion. The ESRI research emphasises that context matters, which means not all interventions will apply to every child. There is no universal rulebook, nor is there a one-size-fits-all app or parental control that can replace human judgment or entirely protect a child. At the core of the ESRI research is an effort to comprehend the challenging position parents find themselves in as the 'first, last and strongest line of defence' for their children's digital safety. The research also poses an interesting question: whether parents are also casualties of the same technological tsunami. Parents are not immune to the allure of technology. Our attention is fragmented, our time is stretched, and an ever-present, pinging soundtrack of notifications now accompanies our parenting journey. In attempting to shield our children from this dynamic, we often find ourselves ensnared in a web of guilt, contradiction, and uncertainty. I consistently find myself replying 'it's a work thing', when my children cast a disapproving look in my direction while I'm on my phone or laptop, after I've just asked them to take a break from their devices. The researchers rightly argue that effective parenting in the digital age relies not on heavy-handed control, but on 'active mediation'. This approach involves discussing with our children what they see, do, and feel when online. It entails setting boundaries not merely around screen time, but also regarding screen values — what is acceptable, what is not, and why. But most of all, modelling behaviour is crucial. If we want our children to trust us when we say it's ok to unplug or that online validation isn't everything, we must embody that truth ourselves. Another refreshing insight in the ESRI report is its caution against over-reliance on tech solutions. Age filters, tracking apps, and parental control settings all have their place, but they are not a panacea, and they can also backfire. Children are savvy, and technical roadblocks can invite work-arounds or secrecy. Worse still, they can damage trust if we replace conversation with surveillance. I am not suggesting parents shouldn't utilise these tools, but we need to realise they are not a primary strategy. The real effort lies in building relationships, which requires time, energy, and emotional availability. Parents' technology use plays a role, as it can interrupt our capacity to do the relational work necessary to protect our children. The ESRI report offers a new perspective. The researchers encourage us to stop viewing online safety as solely the responsibility of parents. Instead, it reframes the issue as a public health concern. Like vaccination or mental health support, children's digital wellbeing requires coordinated, cross-sector solutions. Schools, government regulators, and tech platforms are not peripheral players; they are integral to the process, or co-guardians. Dr Celine Fox, lead author of the report, points out that our understanding of digital harm is still developing. Technologies evolve too quickly for traditional research timelines to keep pace. Fox adds that this doesn't mean we shouldn't put time and money into long-term studies, or expect transparency from the tech companies, we should. If, as parents, it feels like we're just constantly putting out fires, it's probably because we are. To protect children, we must move beyond reactive panic and use the limited information available to create proactive policies. Professor Joyce O'Connor, chair of BlockW, a Dublin-based technology and innovation hub, which commissioned the ESRI research, also calls for a shared responsibility model, where parents are supported, not left to fend for themselves on the front lines. Her words will be a welcome relief to many parents because the truth is that many of us often parent in the dark, with only the glow of a device or an online safety website to guide us. Fostering digital resilience Rather than offering glib suggestions, the ESRI research indicates we must recognise that parenting in the digital age will always involve grey areas. At times, our children may stumble before they grasp concepts. We might set boundaries only to realise they need revisiting. The conversation about online safety is never finished — it is ongoing, iterative, and dynamic. Notably, this research suggests that it may be time to abandon the myth that 'good parenting' means complete control. Instead, it's about fostering digital resilience: helping our children develop the critical thinking, emotional regulation, and moral compass to navigate the online world independently. Building this resilience involves a shift from viewing our role as protectors to that of guides. From rule-enforcer to co-explorer. From 'because I said so' to 'let's talk about why'. It also involves advocating for systems that support parents, such as demanding better regulation of digital spaces for our children, encouraging schools to partner with parents on 'no smartphone' policies, holding tech companies accountable for child safety, and lobbying for public health campaigns and legislation that treat digital wellbeing with the same seriousness as nutrition or road safety. There's no going back when it comes to technology regulation. Digital technologies are not a phase; they are an integral part of modern childhood. The question is no longer whether our children should be online, but how they can do so safely, meaningfully, and with support. Today's parents navigate unprecedented terrain where we must advise our children about a technological relationship that we also struggle with. We're not just raising children; we're helping them build an internal compass for a world that doesn't sleep, that doesn't pause, and that doesn't always care who's watching. Dr Colman Noctor is a child psychotherapist Read More
Irish Examiner
18-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Speech and language, occupational therapies to start in 45 special schools in September
The roll-out of a new education therapy service in special schools will begin with the introduction of up to 90 therapists to 45 schools this September, the minister for education has pledged. The detail is included in a new Education Plan for 2025, published by Helen McEntee and minister of state for special education Michael Moynihan, which outlines the Department of Education's intentions to progress several crucial policies across the education system. Access to most in-school therapies, such as speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy, was severely curtailed during 2020 when therapists were removed from schools. As highlighted previously by the Irish Examiner, parents and teaching staff at special schools warned children were missing out on their education without these essential supports. Overlapping with the closure of schools during the pandemic, the HSE's Progressing Disabilities Services model for children and young people saw services reconfigured and clinicians relocated from their special schools and onto Children's Disability Network Teams. These teams, which are managed by the HSE and voluntary disability organisations, face their own set of challenges, including significant staff vacancies and increasing referrals. Responsibility in this area is also split, with some overlap between departments, different agencies, and Government ministers, mainly the HSE, the Department of Disability and the Department of Education. With Government approval to establish a new Education Therapy Service secured, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is expected now to commence work on its rollout, with an aim to provide 90 therapists to work in 45 special schools in the next school year. The new posts will be initially for occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, and a further roll-out to other special schools is expected to be announced for the 2026/27 school year. While the new therapy service will commence initially in special schools, it is intended that it will roll out down the line in special classes and mainstream schools. The NCSE is expected to now commence recruitment, and the same terms and conditions will be applied for staff as HSE therapists. Other policies listed in the Education Plan 2025 include undertaking an initial review of the costs of insurance in schools and circumstances around them, as well as developing a teacher workforce plan and publishing a new Deis plan for disadvantaged schools. A new Deis model was rolled out in 2022 following an expansion of the scheme. The Education Plan 2025 also pledges to launch a national survey of all primary school parents, and pre-school parents, to determine preferences for school type. This includes questions on teaching through Irish and multi-denominational patronage, and is intended to inform school planning in the coming years. Ms McEntee said she was "eager" to advance the development of the Education Therapy Service. "This will be transformative for not just children receiving therapies in school, but for how it will support the wider school community too. "Ultimately, I believe, this will also ease the strain and stress that parents can feel in accessing therapy support." Read More Over 250 children may have no school place, but minister refuses to confirm numbers
Irish Examiner
17-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Vulnerable children in Limerick 'languishing' for years on waiting lists for therapies, report finds
Children in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country are 'languishing' for years on waiting lists for essential services, forcing schools to decide which vulnerable children get help. The findings are included in new research published by Mary Immaculate College, which reveals a critical need for increased onsite multidisciplinary support in Deis schools across Limerick City. The Limerick municipal district has one of the highest percentages of people living in extreme disadvantage in the country, in addition to almost 42% of the State's unemployment blackspots. Deis band 1 schools in the area are often being left to make difficult decisions about access to critical therapies due to a lack of available services, the study found. Thirteen schools in the Oscailt Network, a collective of Deis schools in Limerick City facilitated by Mary Immaculate, took part in the research. These schools serve some of the city's most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, including Ballinacurra Weston, Southill, St Mary's Park, and Moyross. The research, conducted by the Transforming Education through Dialogue Project at the college's Curriculum Development Unit, identifies an urgent and growing need for services such as creative therapies, family support services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and enhanced access to the National Educational Psychological Service. The scale of need has also intensified in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. The study found there was a marked increase in service uptake when interventions were provided onsite in schools. Big challenges in the health and education systems, such as staff shortages and long waiting lists, are stopping children and young people from getting the support they need, according to Dr Ruth Bourke, lead researcher of the report. 'These delays are holding them back in both their education and access to healthcare, which affects their overall wellbeing and future chances in life. "But this situation can change. What we need now is a joined-up, well-planned strategy that brings schools, services, and communities together to give these students the right support, when and where they need it.' Mary Immaculate College president Professor Dermot Nestor said the research highlighted how "poverty, trauma, and a lack of access to services are holding children back". He added: "What is striking is how much these schools are already doing to respond to the wider social and economic pressures their students live with daily, often well beyond their core role."
The Journal
16-06-2025
- General
- The Journal
Eight-year-old schoolchildren in disadvantaged areas more than twice as likely to have a smartphone
CHILDREN ATTENDING DEIS schools are more likely to be exposed to harm online than their peers in non-Deis schools. According to newly-published research from online safety charity CyberSafeKids, children from disadvantaged areas are more likely to own a smartphone at a younger age and have less rules about online activity. The Government-funded Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (Deis) programme provides resources to schools in disadvantaged areas around the country. The research was conducted between September 2023 and February 2024, and involved 816 children aged 8-12 in 13 Deis schools, and 3,826 students in 45 non-Deis schools. It found that 53% of eight-year-olds attending Deis schools own a smartphone. For children the same age in non-Deis schools, only 22% had a smartphone. Some 46% of children in Deis schools could go online whenever they wanted compared with 31% in non-Deis schools. When looking at social media use, some 93% of eight-year-olds in Deis schools have already created a social media account, with 34% having friends and followers that they do not know. For children in non-Deis schools, these figures were 69% and 19%, respectively. Almost a third (29%) of children aged eight to 12 in Deis schools have posted videos of themselves online, in contrast to 16% of their peers who don't attend a Deis school. Advertisement Speaking on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show this morning, CyberSafeKids CEO Alex Cooney said they were not surprised by the findings. 'We've been monitoring this over the last ten years, and we've seen that, generally speaking, there are higher levels of access in more disadvantaged communities if you compare to the general population,' Cooney said. She said that children are growing up in a digital age where society has 'established norms that children will have quite high levels of access from a young age'. 'They may have more access in those communities just because there's lower levels of parental awareness around risks, and I think we need to do a lot more to upskill all parents and make sure that there is awareness about risks that children can be exposed to in these online environments.' She also called for greater accountability from social media and tech companies 'that provide these online environments that children are going into'. 'It's not about banning children from the online world because there's lots of good things that they can be doing online, but it is about putting age appropriate access in place, putting accountability, where it needs to be upskilling parents and educating children.' Speaking to The Journal earlier this year , the Minister for Children Norma Foley said the State would not have a role in implementing any sort of smartphone ban, but she urged parents to consider it for their own homes. Last week, the Government confirmed that a tender for schools to have access to lockable phone pouches has been replaced with plans for schools to provide whatever 'phone storage solution works best for them'. The €9 million spend was among the most contentious measures announced in Budget 2025 last October . Tánaiste Simon Harris told the Dáil that this was a 'pragmatic and sensible way to proceed' and that schools would still be able to seek funding for lockable pouches or an alternative solution later this year. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Cabinet to be updated on plans to bring RTÉ under closer scrutiny
The Cabinet will be updated on Tuesday regarding plans to bring RTÉ under closer scrutiny as the Government prepares to shut down alternative Sinn Féin legislation on the matter. Minister for Media Patrick O'Donovan is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that his plan goes further than the Sinn Féin alternative, which has been initiated as a Private Members' Bill by its media spokesman, Aengus Ó Snodaigh . The Sinn Féin Bill would assign the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) as auditor of RTÉ and is due for second stage debate later this week. Mr O'Donovan says the C&AG will also be installed as auditor of RTÉ by the Government Bill and that the policy objective contained in the Sinn Féin proposal is already being addressed through draft laws produced by his department and which have been sent for pre-legislative scrutiny. READ MORE The Limerick county TD claims there are two substantive differences, arguing that the Sinn Féin Bill doesn't provide for the director general of RTÉ to be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee when it comes to the broadcaster's financial statements or value-for-money matters. It also doesn't allow the RTÉ board the discretion to appoint a regulated private sector auditor in addition to the C&AG, Mr O'Donovan says. Elsewhere, Minister for Education Helen McEntee will tell Cabinet that she plans to publish a new Deis plan later this year, addressing educational disadvantage across schools. She will update Ministers on the Deis-plus plan, which will target schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage, with plans to establish a new advisory group populated by representatives who work with children from areas of high intergenerational disadvantage. 'The people who voted no are expected to go under a rock and disappear' – Ronán Mullen on losing the marriage referendum Listen | 35:17 Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless will update colleagues on progress with Path (Programme for Access to Higher Education) schemes aimed at widening access to third-level education. There are 173 students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in 11 universities and other higher education institutions. There are also now almost 15 per cent of new entrants to third level who have a disability and are being supported through a national access plan, new figures show. Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will update Cabinet on the establishment of a small business unit within his department. The intention is that the unit safeguard the needs and issues of small business across Government with an emphasis placed on them in the department. Mr Burke had asked officials to prioritise the work of setting up the unit early in the lifetime of the new Government and it has now been established. It will focus initially on the Coalition's new 'SME test', designed to check the impact of legislation and regulation on smaller firms, the work of the National Enterprise Hub and Local Enterprise Offices, and wider work on simplification and burden reduction. Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary is to update Cabinet on recruitment for the 'My Future Fund' organisation, which will manage the auto-enrolment scheme due to go live next year. The recruitment of a board, chief executive and accountant for the body is under way, with the head of the organisation expected to earn in the region of €214,000 annually. He will also bring an update on the procurement competition to source investment management providers for the scheme.
