French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented this Wednesday, September 27, an interministerial plan “against harassment at school and in all places where children live”, a subject of which she made a ” top priority » of the start of the school year.
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General mobilization. After one series of dramatic cases of school bullying and as much controversy over their management by National Education, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled a series of measures to carry out “ a relentless struggle » against what she describes as “ massive phenomenon “.
Among the series of measures prepared, training in the fight against harassment for all stakeholders in the educational community by the end of the five-year term. More generally, all adults working with minors, for example in sports or in camps, should be provided with training on this subject. The government also wants to “develop the confiscation of telephones, and make it possible to exclude student harassers from social networks”.
The Minister of Education Gabriel Attal, for his part, announced the introduction into the “school curriculum” of “empathy courses” from the start of the 2024 school year, based on the model of what is practiced, for example, in Denmark. “ From the start of the January 2024 school year, there will be empathy courses every week in at least one pilot school per department. », Specified the minister.
“ Tsunami of testimonies »
The government has also decided to make 3018, the emergency help number currently dedicated to cyberharassment, “ the unique reporting number, accompanied by an application “. Saluting “ freedom of speech » victims, the Minister of National Education Gabriel Attal reported a recent “ tsunami of testimonies “. “ In this month of September, three times more reports were made than in September 2022 “, he stressed.
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Another measure: a questionnaire will be completed by all students, from CE2 to 3rd, to better detect cases of harassment. And the prosecutor will now be “ systematically ” grasped ” in the event of a report of harassment, in particular thanks to a dedicated platform between National Education and justice », Announced Elisabeth Borne. Several measures had already been put in place during the summer, including the possibility of changing establishments for harassing students this year or of being able to sanction a perpetrator of cyberharassment against a student from another establishment.
Before the press conference, the Prime Minister heard several testimonies from students who were harassed or involved in associations fighting against harassment. Bullying at school, which in France affects one in ten students, is at the heart of the news after a series of dramatic cases and as many controversies over its management, notably following the suicide of young Nicolas, 15, who killed himself in Poissy (Yvelines) the day after the start of the school year.
Gabriel Attal, who launched an audit on the management of cases of harassment during the last school year, indicated that each academy – the administrations which apply national education policy in the territory – “ must have an anti-harassment strategy » by the end of 2023.
(With AFP)