PHARE program, bullying referent, protection of harassed persons, increase in resources… The Prime Minister announced several measures to fight against school bullying.
By NJ with AFP
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PFor the start of the 2023 school year, school harassment will be “the absolute priority”, announced Élisabeth Borne, the Prime Minister, Tuesday, June 6, at the National Assembly. This statement comes almost a month after the suicide of Lindsay, a 13-year-old girl victim of school bullying. “Bullying is a scourge that undermines the daily lives of thousands of young people and too often causes tragedy, distress, depression and sometimes even suicide. Lindsay’s passing is a terrible example of that,” the Prime Minister said in solidarity with the girl’s family and friends.
“Yes, harassment can kill, and it’s intolerable” and “our schools, our colleges, our high schools must be places of knowledge and openness against ignorance and prejudice, places where everyone is protected”, insisted the Prime Minister, who was questioned by the president of the Renaissance presidential group, Aurore Bergé.
We must now turn words into deeds. Because this is precisely what Lindsay’s family criticized after his interview with Pap Ndiaye, the Minister of National Education. “There are things that have been said, but not taken seriously,” castigated Betty, the mother, who also criticized the minister for not being “sincere”.READ ALSO Lindsay’s suicide: the family files four complaints
A string of announcements made by Borne
Elisabeth Borne listed the announcements that are intended to be concrete. “We are going to extend the pHARe program to high school. We are going to appoint a referent adult in the fight against harassment in each college. We are going to further protect pupil victims in primary school by opening up by decree the possibility of removing from a school a pupil who has harassed him. We will make it mandatory to train staff against harassment, we will increase the means of alert and listening platforms. »
The pHARe program provides for the training of a reference team of at least five people per middle school and per primary school district, the appointment and training of at least ten student ambassadors per middle school and ten hours of training per year for children .
READ ALSOSchool: bullying students may be excluded, announces Pap NdiayeThe Head of Government also indicated that she had “asked the Ministers of the Interior, Justice and Digital Affairs to support the Minister of National Education in order to be more effective in the prevention and sanctions against harassment, in particular on social networks.