Europe 1 with AFP 2:17 p.m., September 17, 2021
A new phenomenon of bullying that targets children born in 2010 has appeared in recent days on the social network TikTok.
Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of National Education, asked school leaders to "strengthen vigilance" against the harassment of sixth grade students.
The Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer asked this Friday to the heads of the colleges to "strengthen the vigilance" against harassment, after threats and insults uttered in recent days on social networks towards sixth grade students born in 2010. The phenomenon worries some federations of parents of pupils.
For unions, however, the scale of the phenomenon must be put into perspective.
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A "disturbing movement"
"The good reception of the sixth grade students and their successful integration thanks to the benevolence of their classmates and adults are an essential issue of school life at the college", recalls Jean-Michel Blanquer in the preamble, in a letter sent to the heads of establishment Thursday evening.
The minister also posted a video on social media.
In this re-entry, "this theme takes on a particular acuteness due to a disturbing movement reported in certain establishments. A new phenomenon recently appeared on the social networks TikTok and Twitter encourages insults and threats, by older comrades, towards children. children born in 2010 ", continues Jean-Michel Blanquer in his letter.
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Disciplinary sanctions
The Minister of National Education thus asks the principals "to be very attentive and to put in place the appropriate reporting and support procedures, such as encouraging families to contact 3018 to request the removal of the online video. and comments and thus attenuate virality; write a level 2 or 3 'establishment fact'; contact the mobile security team if necessary so as not to let a trauma set in or remind that if a student in the class or the establishment is identified as a harasser, he is liable to disciplinary action ".
This instruction follows in particular a press release from the main federation of parents of FCPE students, which on Wednesday asked the government to "act urgently" because "the children of 2010 have become the target of campaigns of insults, harassment and cyberstalking ".
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Impact on student mental health
"If a large number of children do not frequent the platforms, for those who spend time there, it is obvious that their mental and psychological health is in real danger," says the federation. Nageate Belahcen, the president of the FCPE, expressed her concerns this Friday on Europe 1. "We have students who are weakened by confinement and who are in very serious psychological states. We have a lot of feedback. students who are afraid to go to college, ”she explained.
The phenomenon is however minimized by the main union of school leaders (SNPDEN).
"We have not seen any incidents of this type in schools at all, and none of the 70 school leaders gathered at a national conference this week had heard of this movement on social networks," said AFP Bruno Bobkiewicz, its secretary general.
Contacted by AFP, several fathers and mothers of sixth grade students born in 2010 said that their children "were not at all affected by this harassment campaign".