Where are we in the fight against bullying at school?

• On the night of October 4, Dinah, a 14-year-old student victim of bullying, ended her life by hanging herself in her room in Kingersheim (Alsace).

• According to National Education, more than 700,000 students are harassed each year in France.

• So inventory of the fight against school harassment in France.

The suicide of 14-year-old Dinah, found hanged in her home on October 4 after suffering bullying for two years, is the most recent drama of a much larger phenomenon.

According to a parliamentary report published on October 13, 2020, nearly 700,000 children are victims of bullying each year in France, i.e. 5 to 6% of young people in total.

Insults, mockery, spreading of rumors, posting of embarrassing videos, incitement to suicide, etc., school bullying, which today takes place mainly online, affects more and more adolescents.

How is France fighting against this scourge? 

takes stock.

What are the figures for bullying in France?

Nearly 10% of students will have the painful experience of school bullying during their schooling, according to the 2015 national school climate and victimization survey (DEPP). A relatively stable percentage for ten years, but which skyrockets when it comes to cyberstalking. The number of victims of insulting online content disseminated on social networks (Facebook, Snapchat, etc.) increased from 4.1% in 2015 to 9% in 2018, according to figures from the General Directorate of School Education ( Dgesco). A cyberstalking that affects more girls than boys: 9.9% of them would be concerned against 8.1% of their male comrades. At last,25% of middle school students and 14% of high school students say they have been the target of Internet attacks at school (cellphones are prohibited in primary school).

1 in 10 young people. 700,000 students each year.

A solution 👉 support the @erwanbalanant report! @Jmblanquer, children and parents need you!

Do not abandon them!

You want to help us alert elected officials => https://t.co/2VMSdL35En pic.twitter.com/pxiF0grarJ

- HUGO Association!

(@asso_hugo) November 3, 2020

What means have been put in place to fight against bullying at school?

Eric Debarbieux, sociologist and specialist in school bullying, notes a real development in ten years: “There has been a continuous awareness since 2011 and the National Conference against harassment. We cannot say that nothing is being done. This awareness is societal, you only have to see the number of articles and even legal texts on the question. Since 2019, a school harassment prevention program has been tested in six academies (Aix-Marseille, Nice, Normandy, Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulouse). Called the pHARe program, it was extended to all establishments in 2021.

These main measures? The establishment of a national expert committee, the adoption of the law for a school of trust (Article 5 enshrines the right to education without harassment), training in digital technology and the fight against cyberstalking (strengthening the presence of digital in school education), funding and extension of the hours of 3020 and 3018 (victim support numbers), the creation of harassment ambassadors among students and the training of teachers. “Good measures” according to Colette Mélot, senator with the Les Indépendants group and author of the information mission “school harassment and cyberstalking”, but which are struggling to be known. The most telling example being the help numbers: “How many students and teachers are totally unaware of their existence? The majority.They should be highlighted on the students' notebook, for example, so that they are better known and more accessible, ”laments the senator.

A national day against school bullying will take place on November 18, which should allow, according to Colette Mélot, better communication around the pHARe program.

"Social networks must be actively monitored and controlled," also notes the senator, who notably takes the successful example of the # Anti2010 affair.

At the start of the 2021 school year, this hashtag was among the popular on TikTok, the most popular social network for (very) young people, and invited to "victimize" new sixth graders, because of their year of birth, supposed to be a marker social.

A prompt intervention by the Ministry of Education, teachers and parents of students had made it possible to remove the hashtag.

"Proof that when we want to act, we can act, and even in a preventive way," encourages the senator.

How can we even better fight against bullying at school?

The figures prove it, the measures taken are insufficient.

Currently, two thirds of teachers say they are poorly trained in issues of bullying, according to National Education.

“There is a real lack of training, welcoming parents, cooperation between the different actors,” notes Eric Debarbieux.

Same thing on the side of Colette Mélot who ensures that there needs to be much better media coverage of the harassment and the measures taken.

The senator believes that the detection and management of cases of harassment must be greatly improved: “During most of the tragedies, harassment was known and we deplore inaction.

The sooner we detect the first signs, the more effectively we can act.

It is therefore necessary to have trained staff who are attentive and encouraged to take action.

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Everything you need to know about bullying

Colette Mélot also pleads for better supervision and better care for harassers: "Today's student harassers are the citizens of tomorrow, it is a societal choice to prevent them from starting again and understand the scope of their act.

For his part, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Monday that the harassing students should be punished but not dropped out, in order to keep an eye on their education.

Communicating, training, educating and supervising would make it possible to launch a movement of "liberation of the word", analyzes the senator, and perhaps to avoid tragedies like that of Dinah.

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* Report commissioned by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe from Modem deputy of Finistère Erwan Balanant, delivered on October 13, 2020.

• Suicide

• Cyber ​​harassment

• National Education

• Students

• Society

• Bullying

• School harassment