Before leaving his post at Matignon, probably in a few days, the resigning Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, wants to raise awareness once again on an issue “which is dear to him”, his office has announced: the fight against school bullying.
Barely appointed as Minister of National Education in July 2023, Gabriel Attal had made a point of meeting the mother of Lindsay, a 13-year-old schoolgirl who took her own life in May 2023. A few weeks later, he was confronted with another tragic suicide, that of Nicolas, 15, a high school student from Poissy (Yvelines) who was harassed in his school and who took his own life on the first day of the school year, on September 5.
At the end of September 2023, during the government of Élisabeth Borne, an interministerial plan against school bullying was launched, on which Gabriel Attal, once appointed to Matignon in January 2024, had always kept a close eye.
A campaign “inspired by Scandinavian countries”
Eager to once again make the fight against bullying “the priority of this new school year”, explains Gabriel Attal’s entourage, the resigning Prime Minister has personally invested in setting up an “unprecedented” campaign, “inspired by Scandinavian countries” and which is presented in the form of a “social experiment”, reported in a prevention film of around four minutes.
This video will be broadcast starting this Monday on television, radio (a shorter audio spot) and social networks. It is aimed at all adults — parents, teachers, members or not of the educational community, etc. — and aims to spread an essential message: “Let’s not minimize school bullying.”
Gabriel Attal was also due to record a “more personal” message this Sunday evening, intended for the approximately 12 million students who will be returning to school this week in France. He will certainly mention the empathy lessons which, after being tested last year, will be generalized in nursery and primary schools this school year.
