The 11-year-old girl had committed suicide after an ordeal lasting several months. Her indicted teacher defends herself at the microphone of TF1.
On Friday June 21, 2019, in Val-d’Oise, Evaëlle’s parents found their little girl hanged. A victim of bullying at school, the very sensitive girl had been changed establishment. Yet her former comrades continued to harass her on social media. In addition to that, Evaëlle did not live very well the recurring remarks of her French teacher. The latter was indicted in September 2020 with prohibition to practice and obligation of care. Three students in his class had also been indicted.
The professor accused of worsening the suffering of the little girl spoke in front of the cameras of Seven to eight Sunday, June 6, 2021. She recognizes teaching methods that she describes as strict, while defending herself from any malicious intent: “Being a strict teacher does not seem to me to be, especially today, a fault. You can be strict and listen to the students”. His methods, however, had sparked complaints from other students. Three other families had lodged a complaint after Evaëlle’s suicide for “harassment of a 15-year-old minor” according to LCI.
Read also: The moving testimony of the parents of Evaëlle, victim of bullying
Lessons of empathy to develop?
She also ensures that she does not have “never had a problem with Evaëlle. (…) I had it five hours a week. On the other hand, I realized quite quickly some of the child’s difficulties. She was comfortable speaking, struggling with writing, which caused her outbursts of uncontrollable anger. Which was not easy “. She adds : “At the same time, it was not an exceptional case, but it would have been necessary to put in place an adapted support to help her. That’s what I proposed, but that’s what the mother refused, and what actually led me to have problems with Evaëlle’s mother “.
At the time of the tragedy, Evaëlle’s parents had underlined the lack of empathy of the teenagers of the college with regard to the suffering of their daughter. “They don’t realize. For them, it’s just mockery.”, lamented his father. “You have to put empathy lessons in kindergarten. In Finland, that’s what they do”, judged his mother. When the professor was indicted, the parents recalled that national education has a card to play on this scourge: “The teachers are litigants like the others and we have to stop imagining that they are untouchable. At some point, they have to explain themselves, at least, that this teacher explains herself. (… ) College is the jungle. Our daughter has only found this gesture to get by. If your children tell you that they are not doing well, listen to them “, they concluded.