School bullying, or original violence: in our column of the week, in The best of worlds, on France Culture, we return to the issue of cyberharassment and what it says about us as a society. With a series and a book to absolutely discover.
The omnipresence of the far-right on social networks, as a political issue, also raises the question of the origin of systemic violence and relations of domination. This violence actually sets in very early, at the dawn of our lives: it is school bullying. This scourge nowadays takes a digital form, with cyberharassment.
A WHO study in 2024 carried out in 44 countries shows that 16% of children and adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, a figure that has increased significantly since 2018. The number of young people who commit cyberbullying is also increasing. The WHO considers in this study that we can speak of an issue linked to human rights.
The best series on harassment
The best series on school bullying is AlRawabi School for Girls, a Jordanian series on Netflix. It is anthological: each season has its own story in the same high school. The first is dedicated to a bullied teenager, who decides to put in place a plan to defend herself. The series, in this season, clearly shows all the mechanics of harassment, and how it unfolds both in the physical and virtual world.
The second season is entirely focused on social networks: Sarah dreams of being famous on TikTok, but when that actually happens, her life will turn into a nightmare.
Few series manage to truly integrate the use and impact of social networks into the lives of the characters. AlRawabi School for Girls achieves this. And it shows something just as important: social networks amplify what exists, they do not create anything fundamentally new.
She lied for the wingsa brilliant book
A brilliant book also shows this: She lied for the wings, by Francesca Serra. The heroine, Garance, dreams of being one of the “popular” people in high school. Except that the intentions of those around him are not benevolent. One day, while she is omnipresent on the networks, Garance mysteriously disappears. What happened to him ?
The author manages to talk about cyberbullying in the best way: not as the source of the problem, but as a sort of loudspeaker. We too often divide cyberbullying on one side and school bullying on the other. Social networks have highlighted what is happening in schools, colleges and high schools: the construction of domination. This is where the social hierarchy, the law of the strongest, and discrimination are reestablished with each generation. No utopia can be born as long as domination is taught to us at the dawn of our lives.
If systemic violence is a political problem, and this violence begins at school, then we cannot improve human relationships without addressing the problem at the source: school bullying and the cyberbullying that results from it are absolute political emergencies .
To listen to Brave New World
To (re)listen to Brave New World, by François Saltiel, go to the Radio France website or on all listening platforms. This episode explores social networks facing a new reactionary wave.
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