Louise Sallé, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Ronan Houssin / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP 06:24, June 18, 2023

An hour of awareness of bullying was held in all middle schools in France this week, after Lindsay's suicide moved the Ministry of National Education. At the microphone of Europe 1, a college principal in Seine-Saint-Denis tells how it took place in his establishment.

Shortly after the suicide of Lindsay, a schoolgirl in Pas-de-Calais who ended her life after being harassed, the Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye announced an hour of mandatory awareness in all colleges. This time was held this week in French establishments. "We have composed pairs, with the choice to intervene in the classes, so that there is both a teacher and a director-social worker, CPE-social worker," explains Laurent Kaufmann, principal of college in Seine-Saint-Denis and federal secretary of the union "Sgen-CFDT" for management staff.

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He therefore set up this first hour of awareness in his establishment. The purpose of setting up these different pairs was for the students to see several interlocutors mobilized on this subject.

"What to do when you are a victim or witness"

The middle school principal points out that this "hour" actually lasted only between 15 and 30 minutes due to "complicated end-of-year timing". "We give the information to the students and we discuss with them because there are always questions that arise on this subject," he continues.

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Concretely, it was a question of "telling the students again what it is (bullying) and what to do when you feel victimized or when you are a witness because you have also insisted a lot on it. The complexity in these situations is that sometimes students know things but don't dare to speak, so we insisted again."

Laurent Kaufmann also said he spoke about the telephone numbers available to students and adults, and the interlocutors also available to students, in the school. Last September in the program La France bouge, the Secretary of State for Children Charlotte Caubel had cited the three toll-free numbers for children victims of school bullying.