This is one of the key measures of the interministerial plan to combat school bullying presented by the Prime Minister at the end of September: an anonymous questionnaire to be completed by students who wish to do so to assess whether they are victims of bullying at school. This will be offered to all children from CE2 at the start of the All Saints' Day holidays, said this Tuesday the Ministry of Education, which sent a letter to this effect to the heads of schools.
Students in CE2, CM1, CM2, middle and high schools "will be asked to fill in a non-nominative self-assessment grid (....). Two hours of school time will be normalized for this purpose, between Thursday, November 9 (the date of the national anti-bullying day, editor's note) and Wednesday, November 15," the ministry said in a statement.
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This time, "the practical organization of which is at the initiative of each school, middle school and high school, will be an opportunity to focus on the prevention and detection of bullying situations," explains the ministry, which sent school heads three different questionnaires developed with experts and adapted to each level (CE2 to CM2, middle and high school). Students will fill out the grid "as a priority" with their main teacher in middle and high school, it is specified.
The Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, explained that this vast survey was developed with child specialists, such as child psychiatrist Marcel Rufo or Éric Debarbieux, a pedagogue known for his work on violence in schools.
More than 40 questions
The grid has four groups of questions: "Before going to school", "At school", "On the Internet or on screens" and "How do you feel?" in elementary school (33 questions in total), and similar themes for middle and high school (44 questions each time).
For example, students are asked if they are "afraid to go to school because of one or more students", if they have "lied to stay at home", if they have "been sidelined in the courtyard by one or more students", if they eat "alone in the canteen", if students "spread rumours about (them)" or have "deliberately pushed them".
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They are also asked if they have received "insulting or threatening messages" on the Internet or social networks, if "photos or messages are circulating" about them without their consent, or if they have "difficulty doing (their) homework", "falling asleep" or have "stomach or headaches" because of what they are experiencing at school.
In the letter sent to school heads, the ministry asks them to also carry out another "priority action": the "compulsory registration" of their school or establishment on the platform that coordinates the ministry's Phare programme to combat school bullying, which has been in place since 2019. The government has promised "general mobilization" against the "massive phenomenon" of school bullying.