On the eve of the national day against bullying at school, which will take place on Thursday, Pap Ndiaye and Brigitte Macron discussed the subject with college students.
The opportunity for the latter to confide, because all of them have been victims of school violence.
And to explain their missions as ambassadors of the PhaRe anti-harassment program.
This system is generalized from this start of the 2022 school year.
These exchanges, full of emotions, also allowed the students to suggest ideas to the Minister of Education to fight more effectively against this scourge.
Dressed in their Sunday clothes, they pace.
On the eve of the national day against bullying at school, which will take place on Thursday, Mathilde, Noa, Lydia, Jules, Henri, Sixtine and a handful of other middle school students were invited to the Ministry of Education to discuss the subject with the minister, Pap Ndiaye, and Brigitte Macron.
Some revise in a low voice what they intend to say to their distinguished guests.
Others prefer to discuss to reduce the pressure.
“Are you a little stressed? Asks Pap Ndiaye, very warm.
You will be able to make proposals to us to better fight against harassment, ”he says.
Because the students sitting opposite him know a lot about the issue: all of them have been harassed at some point in their schooling and have become ambassadors for the pHARe program, dedicated to the prevention of bullying.
This system consists of having a team of advisers trained on the subject in each establishment, with ten student ambassadors whose role is to identify problematic situations.
Because it is always easier for a victim to talk about what she is going through with a student of her age.
The adults then take over to speak with the victim, then with the aggressor(s), in order to find a solution or encourage them to call the emergency numbers*.
A formula that has proven itself during its experiments and which is generalized this year to all elementary schools and public colleges.
“I was harassed for two years”
The First Lady, who has made the fight against school bullying one of her hobbyhorses for five years, still intends to wet her shirt during this new five-year term: “It is a fight that I lead with you.
We do not see more acts, but more reports.
And you who are ambassadors, what are the signs that alert you?
“, she asks.
"The fact that a student is always alone in his corner," replies a schoolboy.
Before Lydia indulges in confidences: “I was harassed for two years.
Every day I was made fun of, pushed in the hallways and spied on me in the toilets.
I decided to become an ambassador so that other students wouldn't go through the same thing.
»
An approach in which his neighbor is part: “There is no small harassment.
Me, I was told that I was the nerd on duty.
Now I want to help 6th graders, because they are the ones who are often attacked.
Brigitte Macron makes the same observation: “We saw what happened last year with 6th graders being targeted by older college students with the hashtag #Anti2010.
»
“My stalker has never been reprimanded”
Some take advantage of the debate to challenge the minister and ask him for more resources: "There should be more school nurses," says Jules.
Because the latter can detect signs of distress in a child and update aggressions that he would have suffered.
“I would like to denounce the laxity of certain headteachers in the face of harassment, says Henri.
I had a hellish year in CM1, with daily insults and threats.
The school principal was not with me and my bully was never reprimanded.
I had to change schools.
I would like the victims to be better listened to and the aggressors to be punished”, he expresses with emotion.
Far from kicking in touch, Pap Ndiaye does not deny the inequality of the treatment of cases: “We must also mobilize the educational teams on this subject via the pHARe program.
The objective is to stop non-responses.
»
“I am flabbergasted by your maturity”
Even if all the participants were mistreated by certain comrades, they are far from holding a bellicose speech towards them.
Like Mathilde, 14 years old: “The bullies, they are not aware of what they are doing and how much it affects.
“Amazing words when you know that the teenager suffered mockery, criticism and insults for a year, from her entire class.
And she is not the only one to show a form of benevolence: "Harassers must also be accompanied, they must be listened to", agrees Henri.
An attitude that commands respect, especially from Brigitte Macron: “I am flabbergasted by your maturity.
It is thanks to your actions that we make things move forward.
Thank you for what you say, who you are and what you do,” she says.
This is already the end of the debate.
The students seem relieved.
Everyone rushes to take selfies with Brigitte Macron.
In a corner of the room, one of the schoolgirls is in tears.
Stirring up the past has been painful.
Jules, he looks satisfied: “I was very stressed.
But it went well.
I hope my middle school students have followed the conference on social media and will not hesitate to call on me if they are ever harassed”.
“Our presentations may also give students the idea of becoming ambassadors in turn,” adds Sixtine.
Everyone felt useful.
A form of resilience for them.
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* The 3020 is used to report a situation of harassment and the 3018 a situation of cyberbullying.
Company
School harassment
Education
School violence
Pap Ndiaye
Brigitte Macron