an offense soon punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison

While the 20th child suicide since the start of the year took place in early November, the problem of school harassment occupies more and more place in the public debate. The President of the Republic had taken advantage of the School bullying day on November 18 to announce a panel of new measures such as the launch of an application to help victims or the legislative strengthening of parental controls on screens.

Corn a new bill, much more impactful, was voted in first reading this wednesday december 1st in the National Assembly. Supported by the majority and validated by 69 votes, the text must now be examined by the Senate before being definitively adopted in February 2022. According to figures from the Senate information mission on school bullying, 800,000 to 1 million students are victims of this phenomenon each year, i.e. on average 2 to 3 students per class. Faced with these worrying figures and the latest dramatic news such as the suicide of young Dinah or that of Chanel, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer welcomed this new step and greeted the “signal sent”With this text:“We’ll never get used to children’s lives being shattered”, He declared.

What changes the bill

This bill is causing a stir because this is the first legal text which qualifies in its own right the facts of school bullying. Previously, this phenomenon was punishable under other heads, mainly that of moral harassment which did not take into account the mass effect specific to school bullying. The text therefore enshrines the creation of a specific offense. Is thus defined as school bullying “acts of moral harassment committed against a pupil or a student, either in an educational or educational establishment, or during the entry or exit of pupils or, in a time very similar to those ci, in the vicinity of these establishments, or by other students studying in the same establishment as the victim”.

But it is also – and above all – the penalties defined for this offense that are controversial, because they are considered too severe. The bill provides that bullying is punished:

• of 3 years imprisonment and € 45,000 fine when it has caused a total incapacity for work less than or equal to eight days or has not resulted in any incapacity for work

• of 5 years imprisonment and € 75,000 fine when these facts have caused a total incapacity for work for more than eight days

• of 10 years imprisonment and € 150,000 fine when the facts led the victim to commit suicide or to attempt to commit suicide

Nevertheless, the author’s age will of course be taken into account, as stated by Erwan Balanant, holder of the bill:

It is not about sending children to jail. Juvenile justice exists. It takes into account the author’s age and judgment. But the penal code enacts the value system of a society

The bill also addresses other issues that revolve around the issue of bullying, in particular the role of social networks and responsibility of educational staff The establishments. Indeed, it reaffirms the importance of initial or continuing training adults, as well as prevention within schools, and devotes the obligation of moderation bullying content for digital platforms.

Finally, Erwan Balanant, who had already worked to include the issue of harassment in the framework of the bill on the “school of trust” in 2019, wished extend the legal framework to private and higher education establishments.

A controversial bill

Although the vote in the National Assembly was unanimous, this new bill is debated because of the severity of the sanctions that are attached to it. If the proponent insists that it is not a “law of emotion”, And that the establishment of this new offense is made for“dissuade upstream”, For the left repression is not the right measure facing the problem of bullying at school.

PCF MP Elsa Faucillon thus claims “a need for more education“, While the UDI deputy Grégory Labille, former teacher, underlines that, if justice must enter the equation,”it means it’s already too late”.

If lthe qualification of the offense in the penal code seems essential, the effectiveness of this bill in the direct fight against school bullying questions.

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