The Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, announced on Saturday an audit of the rectorates on reported cases of school harassment.
“Obviously it’s shocking.” The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, condemned, Saturday September 16, a letter sent in May by the Versailles rectorate to the family of a teenager, Nicolas, who had reported acts of school harassment during the year 2022-2023 . Initially educated in an establishment in Poissy (Yvelines), the 15-year-old high school student returned to a Parisian establishment. He committed suicide at his home on September 5.
>> What we know about the suicide in Poissy of a 15-year-old teenager who had reported “acts of harassment” at school
The way in which National Education handled this report raises questions after the revelation by BFMTV of written exchanges between the family, the principal and the rectorate, in spring 2023. Faced with the outcry raised by these letters, the Minister of Education national, Gabriel Attal, announced on Saturday an audit of the rectorates on reported cases of school harassment. Franceinfo traces the events which led the government to react.
A letter from the rectorate invites the family to “adopt” a “constructive and respectful attitude”
Three letters between the teenager’s family and educational authorities were revealed on Saturday by BFMTV. The oldest dates from April 18, 2023. The parents wrote to the high school principal following a meeting relating to the harassment of their son. They tell him that a handrail has been left at the police station in the absence of “the answer” promised. “It is incomprehensible that you can let a teenager suffer such verbal and psychological violence in your establishment without reacting in any way, so we will file a complaint and consider you responsible if a disaster were to happen to our son,” they warn.
The principal defends himself in a letter dated April 20, explaining the measures put in place. “The establishment will continue to monitor and address this situation so that your son’s education goes as smoothly as possible and he can flourish”he assures.
But it is the letter from the Versailles rectorate to the high school student’s parents, dated May 4, which arouses the indignation of Nicolas’s family. This letter describes“unacceptable” the words of parents who “challenged” the attitude of school staff.
The rectorate also mentions in this letter article 226-10 of the Penal Code which sanctions slanderous denunciations, recalling that they are punishable by five years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. “I urge you to henceforth adopt a constructive and respectful attitude towards other members of the educational community”, it is written. And to warn: “I would be obliged, if necessary, to take all necessary measures both for the proper functioning of the public service of National Education and for the protection and security of the personnel who contribute to it.”
The government denounces a “failure” and a “shame”
“Clearly, there is a failure in the type of response addressed to parents who were extremely worried”declared Elisabeth Borne, Saturday, at the microphone of BFMTV, judging “offbeat” mail from the rectorate. “The response that we must build for tomorrow is really to ensure that everyone is well trained to understand the seriousness of what young people who are victims of harassment experience”adds the head of government.
“This mail is a shame”, supports, late Saturday afternoon, the Minister of National Education, in front of the press. Recalling that an administrative investigation was launched immediately after the suicide of the high school student, Gabriel Attal specifies that the conclusions are awaited “within 15 days” and that he will learn all the lessons from it, “including sanctions”.
Gabriel Attal launches an audit of rectorates
Affirming that the fight against school bullying is his “absolute priority“, the Minister of National Education announces emergency measures: “As of Monday, I will bring together all the rectors [d’académie], and I want to carry out an audit on all the harassment situations that have been reported since last year.”
On Sunday, government spokesperson Olivier Véran spoke on RTL about the historic nature of this announcement: “The level of distress is enormous (…) What happened is a page that we are turning in the administrative history of our country.”
“From that moment on, Nicolas was never the same,” says the teenager’s mother
According to Nicolas’ mother, the letter from the rectorate had an impact on her son’s morale and attitude. “When I read it, Nicolas was there, right behind me”she tells Sunday newspaper. The high school student’s mother then says she entered a “black anger”. “We were outraged. We were now seen as guilty. It was too much”she remembers.
“From that moment on, Nicolas was never the same. It was so rude and above all unfair”, she adds. According to the mother, “the administration’s inaction justified the behavior of these two teenagers who continued behind the teachers’ backs with complete impunity”. Despite this, “Nicolas pretended not to see anything and suffered all the more. And he said nothing to me.”
The associations denounce similar reactions from the educational institution in other cases
The content of the letter does not surprise Martine Brousse, president of the association La Voix de l’enfant, which fights against school bullying. “This is the type of mail that our associations which carry out prevention in schools receive”, she reacted on Saturday on franceinfo. It evokes associations “called to order because they make too many reports, after interventions in class”affirming that two associations have already been targeted “with the risk of losing their approval to intervene in schools”.
“This letter is unbearable”also judged on franceinfo Jean-Pierre Bellon, the founder of the Association for the prevention of harassment phenomena between students. “It is above all revealing of a state of mind of certain educational executives who wonder if it is really harassment (…) These reactions reveal this way of minimizing harassment, which causes serious damage in educational establishments. The institution is not there to defend itself, but to protect children.”