"Go fuck yourself in *****, dirty PD."
Go fuck yourself!
".
Very youthful voices utter the worst horrors in this sound message addressed to Thomas
(the first name has been changed)
, a college student in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône).
At 13, Thomas has been the victim of bullying for two years.
The teaching team at his establishment does not seem to take the measure of the situation, denounces Lila V., his mother, and Thomas has come close to the worst on two occasions.
While three 13-year-old students were indicted for harassment at the beginning of the year after Evaëlle's suicide in 2019, in Val-d'Oise, Thomas filed a complaint in early February against two of his schoolmates , in particular for "threats of violence and homophobic remarks".
And against the director of the establishment for "endangering the lives of others".
The Marseille prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation and the Defender of Rights took up the case.
Thomas lodged a complaint, in particular for “threats of violence and homophobic remarks” ./ DR
Thomas is not a child like the others.
The teenager suffers from dispraxia, dysgraphia and attention deficit disorder.
A motor handicap and learning disabilities may be amplified by the repeated bullying of one of his primary school friends who already inflicted slaps and insults on him.
To follow his classes, Thomas must be accompanied by a school life assistant (AVS) and needs a computer.
His troubles make him particularly anxious and insecure in his daily life.
"That day, I almost lost my son"
And then, in 6th grade, the teenager discovers his homosexuality.
“When I got to college, I realized I was gay,” Thomas recalls.
I don't see the harm.
"The first mockery occurs at the start of the 2019 school year." PD "," dirty handicapped ", insults are raining down on social networks.
Thomas is in 5th grade, he is afraid of going to class.
Until the day when the teenager finds no more solutions.
During the All Saints holidays, he commits the worst.
“I always had his Instagram password, it was my condition for him to have an account.
So I noticed the insults.
One day I heard him cry in his room, but when I arrived he was silent.
A few minutes later, I heard the bay window on her balcony creak, ”recalls Lila, who is raising her boy alone in their 6th floor apartment.
Thomas tries to break out of the window.
"I caught him by the foot, I don't know how I did it," Lila cries.
That day, I almost lost my son.
"
The mother sends a complaint to the public prosecutor of Marseille against two of the harassing children and the college ends up changing Thomas of class in December.
The situation seems to be calming down.
But at the start of the 2020 school year, the teenager notices that one of the boys who harassed him the previous year is back in his class.
Mockery, insults, jostling in the corridors resume.
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Harassment is developing in particular on the Snapchat network where the students in her class exchange more insults than mathematics lessons.
Thomas notices in particular homophobic insults.
“We must not confuse humor and homophobia,” he warns in this Snapchat group.
Then, he denounces them to the teaching team of his college.
Which earned him new attacks repeatedly.
This time it is considered "the scales".
Lila takes a new measure of the situation and multiplies contacts with associations like SOS Homophobie, which joins the establishment located on the opulent heights of Marseille.
But nothing is moving.
The mother of the family also telephones 3020, this helpline for victims of bullying at school: "They are nice, they listened to me and then nothing".
"They know Thomas' situation and are responsible for it"
Professors, college management and the CPE are also called upon.
In vain.
While in the course of the fall, Thomas once again tries to harm himself, this time in the toilets of the establishment.
Once again, the young man escapes the worst.
Since then, the fragile teenager has not set foot in college.
He who all agree to describe as a "brilliant child" used to very good grades has not been attending classes since the beginning of December.
And Lila feels helpless in the face of the college's silence and inaction, she says: “They know Thomas' situation and are responsible for it.
How can we let this happen?
There is no more benevolence since we denounced the harassment.
According to Lila, a confrontation between Thomas and some of his stalkers was suggested by the establishment.
But the teenager does not find the strength to come to this meeting: "I'm afraid to be alone with eight people against me," he wrote to a friend.
While the Defender of Rights, responsible for the defense of children's rights, took up the case in early January, the Marseille academy ensures that "everything is done so that Thomas returns to college as quickly as possible . "This student benefits from personalized support and the educational team is impatiently awaiting him", they add. What if Thomas changes establishment? " No way! »Answer Lila and Thomas in chorus. “Why would I be punished, separated from my friends? », Breaths the teenager.
