” A top priority for the start of the 2023 school year “. These are the words that the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, used on June 6 before the Assembly, regarding school bullying. In recent months, the French news has been marked by the terrible stories of Lucas, Thibault and more recently Lindsay, three college students who committed suicide after being bullied for several months.
While he had met with Lindsay’s parents the previous week, who had filed several complaints for NO–assistance to the person in dangeradded the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, on Sunday 11 June, announcing the establishment of a ” awareness hour » Compulsory against bullying in 7,000 boarding schools in France. In total, 3.4 million university students have to undergo it during the week. An initiative deemed inadequate in the face of the emergency.
A systemic plague
This new provision has caused a stir, especially from teachers and principals, who denounced “an announcement effect that gives the impression of an improvisation “. The teachers are concerned, among other things, that they do not have the time to adequately prepare for this intervention, and they deplore the bad timing, in the middle of the license and class council period:
It must be adapted to the age of the students, we do not cater to an 11 year old in the same way as a 14 year old. The context of the boarding school must also be taken into account: have there already been cases of harassment or not? Are there currently? Finally, to animate this hour of awareness on school bullying and on social networks, one must be trained, one must know the practices of young people.
FranceInfo, “It gives the impression of an improvisation”: because the “awareness hour” on bullying at school leaves teachers and parents skeptical. June 12, 2023.
Same story from the Federation of Parents’ Councils (FCPE) and the Federation of Parents of Pupils of Public Education (PEEP). Both believe that the fight against school bullying must be a long-term action and cannot consist of a botched intervention. Is this approach simply a reflection of government inaction in this area?
The number of cases of bullying has tripled in 5 years
If the Balanant law has made bullying a crime since 2022, the figures in this area do not decrease. It is estimated today that between 6 and 10% of children are victims. Since 2019, the pHARe system has been gradually implemented in primary schools and universities across the country. But this program, which aims to train at least 5 resources per institution, designate 10 child ambassadors per college, and provide 10 hours of annual learning to middle school through third grade students, remains insufficient. Lucas and Lindsay’s colleges also had them, which didn’t stop their ordeal.
The first OpinionWay parental barometer produced for the MFA and broadcast by the JDD on June 10, 2023, is categorical: the number of cases of harassment reported has even tripled in 5 years. Concern is growing on the part of parents: more than one in two parents (56%) fear teasing in class or on social media. Because the harassment isn’t limited to school, it continues into the evenings and weekends on the tracks, in front of often helpless parents.
What solutions?
As Agathe Lemaître recalled in a video for Madmoizelle, ” school bullying is a system, it is a spiral that takes place in groups “. This type of government announcement does not address the root of the problem because it is not sufficient to deconstruct an anchored systemic problem. To the author” The only way to‘stop school bullying is that people outside the bullying, so neither the bullying nor the bully fight back “. It is also necessary to open the dialogue to allow the victims to speak about it confidentially and to be listened to. Too often, as in the case of Lindsay, the child warns, in vain. Finally, the author insists on the seasonal nature of the phenomenon, which demonstrates its repetitive aspect, and on the importance of in-depth work to deconstruct the mechanisms in place:
Not necessarily much happens in September. People don’t really know each other yet. You have no identified victims, identified offenders. It is formed little by little, often in October, November, when the group consolidates there. There are “covenants”. In December, when it’s Christmas, things usually calm down a bit and then it picks up. January, February, March, it’s a crescendo. And in April, that’s where the kids generally collapse. And if they make it through April and indeed May, June, you are approaching the holidays. You know you’re going to switch classes, that it’s going to be a two-month vacation, that you actually have a goal. And so it’s quite rare for people being harassed to break down at that moment (…) When you see that it’s systemic, that it’s something that repeats itself over and over again, you understand that it’s not the bully’s problem in that school at that moment. It’s really a social problem.
Agathe Lemaître, Video “If there had been people who had reacted, they would still be there”
Telling stories and supporting all stakeholders
For Agathe Lemaître, sharing the story and reality of those who have experienced school bullying necessarily has a greater impact than simply explaining what school bullying is. For this she has published a book and shared excerpts from her diary, which forcefully trace her sister’s experience.
In the JDD, the general vice president of the MAE also returns to the results of the study opinion : “ This barometer shows that parents also need to be accompanied “. When will there be substantial, global and inclusive work to collectively fight against this scourge that affects 700,000 children every year?
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
