More than one student per class experiences harassment according to the first figures from a national survey made public this Monday, February 12. A situation that Minister Nicole Belloubet wants to monitor and combat.
Newly appointed Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet takes up a “major subject”: school bullying. In the tradition of Gabriel Attal who made the fight against bullying at school one of his priorities when he was at rue de Grenelle, the new minister warns against this “real scourge that we absolutely must regulate and on which action must be taken. The figures are unequivocal: “more than one student per class on average experiences harassment”, recalled Nicole Belloubet during her visit to the Robert Schuman college in Reims, this Monday, February 12.
Harassment occurs at every level of study: 5% of schoolchildren from CE2 to CM2 are victims, 6% of middle school students and 4% of high school students. These are the conclusions of the partial results of the survey conducted in November among students using the self-assessment questionnaire distributed as part of the interministerial plan to combat harassment. These figures were communicated this Monday after 17,000 of the 7.5 million questionnaires were counted. In addition to the cases of harassment reported, the survey shows that a significant proportion of students must be subject to increased vigilance in the face of the risk of harassment: 19% of schoolchildren from CE2 to CM2, 6% of middle school students and 5% of high school students.
The new Minister of National Education Nicole Belloubet speaks on the sidelines of her first trip, and announces the creation of an annual barometer on bullying at school.
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“An annual barometer of harassment in schools”
“To learn well, to master one’s knowledge, one must live in a space where serenity reigns, where there is no violence of any kind,” declared the Minister of Education since the Reims college ensuring that “a student must not come to their school with fear in their stomach, but on the contrary with a smile on their lips”. In view of the results of the survey on school bullying, Nicole Belloubet announced “the creation of a barometer on bullying” which will be published each year and which, in the event of difficulties noted in a class or an establishment, will be able to give grounds for in-depth investigations. This barometer will be based on a survey similar to that conducted in November 2023 with a questionnaire distributed to each French student. The minister adds that when a questionnaire reveals a risky situation, “a new individual self-assessment during which anonymity will be lifted, with the agreement of the parents” may take place.
The objective behind this tool for measuring the situation is to give “all the actors involved the means to act effectively”. The minister also took advantage of her trip to announce or confirm a handful of measures such as the establishment of empathy courses or the creation of “brigades” in each academy to intervene in educational establishments, identify and fight against harassment situations. These mobile teams now include 150 National Education officials such as inspectors, psychologists or contract workers trained in the exercise. The minister also promised better remuneration for school nurses, who have a coordinating role in establishments, with an annual bonus of €1,250.
The minister asked the rectorates to implement all anti-harassment measures in place. The rectors were also warned of the priority nature of this fight. Last year several children and adolescents who were victims of harassment committed suicide, for some the family had reported the situation to the establishments without this being enough to put an end to the situation.