It's not just a children's story. There fight against school bullying must also become one of the priorities of adults. “ They must realize the gravity », Says Natacha Chicot, rector of the Nice academy. Her awareness dates back to the suicides of Marion Fraisse, 13, and Evaëlle, 11, which she experienced while she was director of legal affairs at the Ministry of National Education. Involved in these questions, she also created, in March 2024, the academic center for the fight against school bullying, the first and only in France.
However, ” the school will not be able to eradicate this scourge alone » which affects one in ten children in France, and in the same proportion within the academy, she continues.
All united against school bullying
It is for this reason in particular that Samuel Finielz, public prosecutor of Toulonset up a convention to combat school bullying with National Education. It was signed on November 6, the eve of the national day against school bullying, at the Toulon courthouse.
The objective? That each “ don't swim alone in your lane », Indicates Natacha Chicot, one of the signatories with Dasen (Directorate of National Education Services), the police and gendarmerie services as well as the socio-educational victim aid associations Avenir and AAviv. Strengthened coordination of all actors in the chain which certainly appears among the first in France. « This agreement will make it possible to create a clear circuit for victims. Formalizing things is useful », greets Isabelle Choutet, director of AAviv.
A primarily educational response to school bullying
« It is a collective work that was carried outadds the public prosecutor, in particular within the framework of the interministerial plan to combat harassment of October 2023, so that we works on the prism of the victimwhich is often far from the answers. Furthermore, we must strengthen the links between Justice and National Education so that there is no contradiction in decisions and so that we can deploy primarily educational responsessuch as social media education. »
The idea therefore being to combine school and legal responses since school harassment has been a criminal offense since 2022. “ We are also seeing an increase in the number of reports but this is certainly linked to the fact that people are speaking out more freely. », adds Natacha Chicot.
Samuel Finielz insists:
« We wish to enable the perpetrators and their victims to find their way back to normal schooling and confidence in the institutions of National Education and the judicial system. »
This agreement naturally complements the existing arrangements within the framework of the Lighthouse program for example, a harassment prevention plan in place since 2021, generalized to schools and colleges in 2022 and extended to high schools at the start of the 2023 school year.
And for students who are victims of school bullying, an emergency number: 3018.
