The French government presented an interministerial plan to combat bullying on September 27, and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne promised an “uncompromising fight” against this type of aggression. The announcement comes after the suicide of several teenagers, which has caused widespread outrage in French society in recent years.
First change: 09/28/2023 – 01:49
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“This mobilization must be comprehensive; “Everyone has their role to play,” said Élisabeth Borne at a press conference. The French government will wage a “relentless fight against bullying”, not just in schools but wherever bullying is a key threat to a child’s life.
“Our plan is 100% prevention, 100% detection, 100% solutions,” Borne said.
Before the press conference, the Prime Minister heard testimonies from students who were harassed or were actively involved in anti-harassment associations.
“Obviously these stories are not easy to tell,” he said. “It is very important to talk about them, and the commitment to help others is also a beautiful way to rebuild yourself,” the president added.
After the suicide of 13-year-old Lindsay in Pas-de-Calais in May, Borne asked several members of his cabinet to work on an interministerial plan for the start of the new school year.
A photo shows T-shirts and posters with messages against the bullying Lindsay endured hanging on the fence at Bracke-Desrousseaux High School, on the sidelines of a memorial march in memory of the 13-year-old girl who committed suicide after being bullied at school . June 18, 2023. AFP – DENIS CHARLET
Several measures have come into force in recent weeks, including a requirement to force bullies to change schools and punish those who harass students from other schools online.
The French government has also launched a harassment detection app and created the emergency number 3018 specifically for online harassment.
Phone confiscation
Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced the creation of “empathy courses” which – similar to other countries, particularly Denmark – will be included in the curriculum from the start of the 2024 school year.
Borne said local prosecutors are now “systematically” notified of harassment complaints.
The government is also considering confiscating the phones of perpetrators of serious cyberbullying and banning them from using social media.
Bullying is a serious problem in France. The authorities estimate that one in ten students is affected and has caused the deaths of some of them, as in the case of a 14-year-old girl who was cyberbullied by her classmates and died in 2021 after jumping into the Seine in Paris.
Bullying was back in the headlines after 15-year-old Nicolas committed suicide the day after the start of the school year in Poissy (Yvelines), sparking a series of debates about how bullying is dealt with in educational institutions.
Education Minister Gabriel Attal also pointed out that every school institution must have an anti-bullying strategy “before the end of the year”.
*Adapted from the English original
With AFP