School harassment: ambassadors at the forefront in Tarn-et-Garonne

Raising student awareness of school bullying is the ambition of the pHARe program. Implemented nationally since 2022, this prevention and treatment plan is available in the department's middle and high schools. Example at the Olympe-de-Gouges college in Montauban, where 36 students from grades 6 to 3 and 26 adults are engaged in this approach on a daily basis. Ten students have become ambassadors and are responsible for making their classmates aware of the signs that could alert them to a situation of harassment. Each student then becomes a sentinel capable of watching over his classmates who seem isolated or in discomfort.

Monday, November 4, 2024, these same ambassadors, surrounded by teachers from Olympe-de-Gouges, spread the good word at the Jacques-Brel school in Montauban in four classes for students who will be returning to 6th grade. next year. Through short films made by middle school students, the ambassadors focused on the group effect, the impact of harassment on those who are isolated or mocked, before discussing conflict management.

At the end of the morning, the schoolchildren received a diploma attesting to their new sentry duties. “The national day takes place on November 7 but we want to show that the fight against harassment is a daily problem, and this in all colleges and schools. Students are training and will train their classmates. Entrance to college is an extremely important moment and we must anticipate it to show how we can get involved. In each class, there are 10 ambassadors among the students and 5 adults are trained in each establishment”, explains the academy inspector, Cyril Le Normand.

A growing phenomenon

In a few years, encouraged by social networks, school bullying has exploded, but the freedom of speech encourages victims to break their silence. “All establishments are obliged to make reports to the departmental referent, explains Dasen. He intervenes on all problems which cannot be dealt with internally and this can generate sanctions up to definitive exclusion, by the way. through legal action, particularly for cyberharassment, such as the Olympe-de-Gouges high school in Montech recently.”

The academy inspector also highlights the role of parents with whom he intends to work as much as possible. “I am committed to working with parents. The school can do a lot, but it cannot do everything, knowing that students' class time is 17%, we do our best to manage class time.”

The next step for Olympe-de-Gouges college: involve parents to train them to become ambassadors against harassment alongside students and teachers.