On the occasion of the national day against school bullying, the Henri IV college, in Nay, set up several workshops to understand and prevent bullying at school. Exercise in theatre, artistic expression and debate, these workshops took several forms. Since the beginning of the year, the establishment has taken part in a program to combat school bullying (pHARe). The opportunity also to talk about “ambassadors“. There are 14 college students from 5th to 3rd who are referents to turn to in case of concern. Their comrades can come to see them to report a problem or simply confide.
“For me it would have been easier to talk to a student my age”
Caroline, 13, is in 4th grade. She is one of the college ambassadors. She herself was the victim of harassment from CP in the 5th grade. So when we presented her with the device she said “jumped at the chance“. This teenager saw the opportunity to help her classmates. “I didn’t get much help. For me it would have been easier to talk to a student of my age than to an adult, so I feel very useful“, explains the girl.
Helping others, but also helping yourself. It is for this reason that Zélie in 5th grade also wanted to become an ambassador. At 11, the young girl fears being harassed because of her “physical“, or because she has “good marks“. So she wanted to protect herself. “I always told myself that one day it was going to fall on me, that one day I was going to be harassed, so I wanted to train myself to know what could happen to me and try to avoid it“.
Relay of the teaching team
If for the moment no concern has come to the ears of the ambassadors, the teaching team remains attentive. It relies on this system to prevent school bullying and relies on these referents to be a relay with middle school students. Elodie Wack is the CPE of the college: “It’s interesting to have student feedback and not necessarily to judge a situation with our adult eyes. It’s important to know how they feel, to put things in place in a sustainable way within the establishment.”
A device that will not make it possible to avoid all situations of harassment, concedes François-Xavier Pestel, academy inspector, present in Nay to attend the workshops. “Let’s not be naive, there are always situations that escape us. But the more people there are made aware, the less chance there will be of it slipping through the cracks.“. A national listening and support number, 3020, has been set up.