One of the most worrying social phenomena of our time is school bullying. Every year, many children are victims of this form of bullying and violence, which can have profound consequences on their mental and emotional health. In order to increase adults’ awareness of the reality of school bullying, a new national campaign was launched by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.
This campaign aims to encourage adults to listen and take seriously the words of children who are victims. Too often, adults downplay or ignore warning signs, which can make the situation worse and make it difficult for children to seek help. By providing an anonymous self-assessment grid to students, this campaign aims to create an environment conducive to expressing their experiences and raising awareness of the problems of harassment in schools.
This self-assessment grid will allow students to answer a series of questions about their school experience in order to identify possible cases of harassment. Questions like “Are you afraid to go to school because of certain classmates?”, or “Do classmates tell lies or say mean things about you?” will be asked. These questionnaires, developed by childhood specialists, will make it possible to collect national data on school bullying, which will help put in place more effective prevention and intervention measures.
At the same time, the campaign is also materialized through impactful videos and visuals. These materials aim to highlight situations which may seem harmless, but which in reality hide cases of harassment. For example, one clip shows three adults discussing the situation of Sacha, a child who suffers from bullying at school. The adults minimize the problems and do not take Sacha’s words seriously. This production aims to make adults aware of the importance of paying attention to the signs of harassment and acting accordingly.
This new awareness campaign against school bullying is an important step towards the prevention and fight against this scourge. By giving children a voice and encouraging adults to listen, it helps create safer and more caring school environments. It is essential that adults take children’s words seriously and act to put an end to school bullying.