Fight against bullying: Borne wants to make it "the absolute priority of the new school year"

Europe 1 with FAP / Photo credits: bERTRAND GUAY / AFP 16:38 pm, June 06, 2023

Elisabeth Borne said she wanted to "make the fight against bullying the top priority of the 2023 school year", Tuesday at the National Assembly, after the suicide on May 12 of a 13-year-old girl, Lindsay, victim of school bullying. "Bullying is a scourge that undermines the daily lives of thousands of young people and too often causes tragedies, distress, depression and sometimes even suicide. Lindsay's passing is a terrible example of this and I want to express my solidarity and support to her family and friends," the Prime Minister said during the Government Question Session.

>> READ ALSO – "It is unacceptable": after the suicide of Lindsay, the harassment continues on social networks

Phare programme to be extended to high school, Borne announces

"We will extend the Phare program to high school. We will designate at the beginning of the school year in each college an adult referent in the fight against harassment. We will further protect students who are victims in primary school by opening up by decree the possibility of removing a student who is the perpetrator of harassment from a school. We will make mandatory the training of staff against harassment, we will increase the means of alert and listening platforms, "listed Elisabeth Borne.

The Phare programme provides for the formation of a reference team of at least five people per secondary school and per primary school district, the appointment and training of at least ten student ambassadors per college and ten hours of training per year for children.

Ministers of the Interior and Justice mobilized

The head of government also said she had "asked the ministers of the Interior, Justice and Digital to support the Minister of National Education in order to be more effective in the prevention and sanctions against harassment, especially on social networks".

"Yes, harassment can kill and it is intolerable" and "our schools, our colleges, our high schools must be places of knowledge and openness against ignorance and prejudice, places where everyone is protected," insisted the Prime Minister, who was questioned by the president of the presidential group Renaissance, Aurore Bergé.

>> LISTEN - Lindsay's suicide: all responsible?

Received Monday at the Ministry of National Education by Pap Ndiaye, the family of Lindsay, 13, who committed suicide in May after being a victim of school bullying, questioned the minister accused of not being "sincere" and powerless in the fight against this phenomenon.