Bullying currently affects nearly 700,000 primary and secondary school pupils. With the advent of social media, this phenomenon has grown and is no longer confined to school walls. Two years ago, the Ministry of Education introduced a national day to combat bullying, in partnership with the YouTube collective Rose Carpet and the association e-Enfance.
Bullying in schools on the decline
The Minister of National Education, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, opened her press conference yesterday with the results of the international survey. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. Conducted between 2010 and 2014, this study reveals a decrease in cases of bullying at school of 15%. However, it should not be forgotten that children who are victims of this scourge do not always dare to speak out. This second national day, under the hashtag ##NonAuHarcèlement, confirms the Ministry of Education's commitment to combating bullying in schools. Over the past year, the Ministry has introduced new tools to tackle this problem. A website is now dedicated to bullying in schools: http://www.nonauharcelement.education.gouv.fr/, providing children, parents and teachers with the tools to tackle this problem. An educational guide, a «Stop Bashing!» app, and a helpline number, 3020, have been set up. Since the beginning of January 2016, the Ministry has recorded more than 8,000 calls to this toll-free number. For this second national day against bullying in schools, the Ministry has set up a collaborative mosaic on social media to enable internet users to take action.
Cyberbullying, a 2.0 scourge
Initiated by the Ministry of National Education in partnership with the e-Enfance association, this awareness day focuses on cyberbullying, particularly on social media. To mark the occasion, e-Enfance has published a guide to understanding, preventing and responding to cyberbullying. Bullying has gone digital and is now invading our children's bedrooms. Violence is taking place on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, which teenagers are fond of. According to a survey conducted in 2015 by Catherine Blaya, a professor of education sciences, 61% of the students surveyed had been victims of cyberbullying. To raise awareness among young people, the Ministry and e-Enfance have signed a partnership for the second time with the YouTube collective Rose Carpet to create a video clip entitled «Liking is already harassment».
This video aims to show children that witnessing cyberbullying and, worse still, interacting through « like » for example, makes them accomplices, or even harassers. Given that harassment stems from peer pressure, this video carries a powerful message. The Ministry and e-Enfance have also set up a national helpline, 3018, dedicated to cyberbullying (3018). This free helpline provides support to victims and their loved ones. It is also possible to contact Net Ecoute by Facebook Messenger, by Chat or by email.
A partnership with the giant Facebook
Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem visited Facebook France this morning to launch a hackathon aimed at raising awareness of social media use among teenagers at the Salvador Allende secondary school in Béthune, Nord-Pas-de-Calais. These students are the winners of the prize. No to harassment 2016. The aim of this prize is to enable pupils aged between 8 and 18 to collectively speak out on the subject of bullying through communication tools that will be used to raise awareness among pupils at their school. The e-Enfance association regularly works with social networks to moderate or remove hateful content. Justine Atlan, President of the association, told Senate Public : «Our collaborations with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are working rather well. We have also been working with Snapchat since last September.»
What is the current status of the legislation?
Since 28 September, cyberviolence of a pornographic nature has been recognised by French law. The Digital Republic Act now plans to punish perpetrators of publications classified as sexual revenge with two years in prison and a €65,000 fine. This is a first step towards recognising the growing phenomenon of cyberbullying.
