in Sweden, “each new case is experienced as a defeat”

Sitting cross-legged on a chair, the 12-year-old girl pulls with all her strength on the sleeves of her beige vest. Olivia seems to want to disappear. “I suffered physical violence,” she whispers. At school ? “Yes, at school.” Before each new response, she sniffs and looks down. Often ? “Yes, several times.” Who ? “Another student.” Or ? “In the courtyard, during the breaks.” Tears flow down her cheeks. Dyears the office of the public school principal Nybohov, in Stockholm (Sweden), the air becomes stifling on Wednesday September 27.

Caroline Cloarec listen to the student silently . The director is not “not a police investigator” but, for her, “absolutely no doubt” : it is indeed about “mobbing” (“harassment” in Swedish) . Matter of habit. “From experience itself”, she corrects. Lhe Scandinavian kingdom, which launched its first research on the subject in the 1970s, is often cited as an example in the fight against school bullying. Since 2011, a law even requires teaching staff to report the slightest suspicion of offensive behavior to the hierarchy. The establishment has one week to complete a four-page form.

Everything is recorded. The dates, first names and nature of the actions: “physical”, “verbal”, “written” Or “psychological”. Further down, a question asks again: “Have similar facts occurred already taken place before?” Answer 1: “No, to the school’s knowledge.” Answer 2: “Yes, this has already happened.” Answer 3: “No, that never happened.” In the event of sexual harassment, the file urgently goes to the top of the pile.

In 2022, the school Nybohov sent 325 reports to the directorate of school affairs in Stockholm, and already 44 since the start of the school year. The director does not shy away: “It’s a lot, yes. But in reality, it is proof that the efforts put in place are working, that we are tackling the problem at the root, that we are leaving nothing passargues Caroline Cloarec. Olivia could have kept quiet and you saw, she spoke.”

“This is what we teach our students: talk, talk, talk. When a child comes to see us, we say to ourselves that we have already won a little.”

Caroline Cloarec, director of the Nybohov school

at franceinfo

Christopher Borchies, a humanities and mathematics teacher, had to fill out a form as recently as a week and a half ago. “The story of a boy who attacked another. I summoned everyone, things have already calmed down. Then I explained everything.” At the very bottom, he put his name and signature. “It is not an administrative document like any other. It is a trace that will remain. A former student could very well come to us a few years later to ask us for accountability.”

Damages to be paid

Because if a school has been negligent, it must compensate the child and his family. Some 183 files are currently waiting on the desk of Marten Petersson, the students and children’s ombudsman for the city of Stockholm. “VSSome may involve the payment of damages.”, he confirms, without saying more about the schools in question or the alleged facts. Quinteen schools were sanctioned in 2022, according to information from franceinfo. Total amount of damages nationwide: 138,000 crowns (approximately 11,900 euros). In December 2010, a Swedish establishment even had to pay more than 20,000 euros to a single student.

So far, the school Nybohov did not have to pay a single crown. “But that doesn’t mean we feel safeCaroline Cloarec is quick to point out. The fight against harassment happens all the time.” And not just on the posters hanging to the right of every whiteboard in the classroom. Once a month, the director brings together all the staff to review the latest reports. “We try to find matches. If a location comes up often, if a class comes up often, if a specific time of day comes up often… We can then adjust the presence of adults, for example near the changing rooms before class sports, or on the way to the canteen.”

The director will also have to bring together the staff “during the fall” to update its internal plan to combat offensive behavior. In this seventeen-page document, the establishment describes all the measures taken to prevent harassment within its premises. The 230 students aged 6 to 12 have for example “obligation” to attend the discussion time around harassment, which takes place during the first trimester. “Just like a Swedish or English course, it’s obligatory”recalls Caroline Cloarec.

This is where Olivia “Understood” who to turn to to confide. “To whom anyway?”request to his students Christopher Borchies, surprise interrogation style. Vidar, 12 years old, begins: “Towards the social worker for example.” The door to his office, located in the main corridor, is “always open”, “from morning to night”.

No cell phones at Nybohov school

However, twelve years after its “zero tolerance” law, Sweden has still not completely gotten rid of school bullying. In 2022, 11,000 offensive behaviors were recorded in the capital’s schools alone. “Each new case is experienced as a defeat”, breathes Susanne Tidestrand, violence prevention coordinator for the city of Stockholm. “Qhen a school ends up having to pay damages, yes, there is resentment. Fortunately, it’s actually quite rare.”

“Will we one day be able to achieve zero harassment in schools? In any case, I think we can get closer.”

Susanne Tidestrand, coordinator for violence prevention in Stockholm

at franceinfo

Susanne Tidestrand devotes her daily life to fighting this scourge. “When a school feels helpless, we remind it that we can provide documents, time, personnel”, she notes. She has just expanded its team of lawyers: there was only one, there are now four. A box “internet, SMS and social networks” has also been added to the offensive behavior reporting form. “It’s up to us to go further to stay as close as possible to technological realities”, insists this mother. Her daughter is herself in her final year of high school.

Caroline Cloarec has also already made it known on several occasions that she is worried about the Snapchat application: “Some classes create their own discussion groups. But it’s between students, without adults, and the messages are deleted. We have absolutely no idea what’s going on there.” At his school, phones are allowed up to the front gate. Once crossed, schoolchildren must store them in a common locker. “It’s forbidden to touch it until after class. At least that limits the temptation”wants to believe the director.

On the importance of adults

Because in Sweden as in France, bullying at school often also continues on cell phones. “Half of children exposed to online bullying are also bullied at school., observes Frida Warg, from the NGO Friends, specializing in the fight against school bullying. “Online bullying is increasing as children spend more and more time online. The areas where harassment can occur have become larger and more numerous.”

On the floors of the ministry, in the heart of Stockholm, the fight against school bullying is also a political priority. “It is clear that we need more order and security at school,” supports Lotta Edholm, the Minister of Schools. Moreover, she continues, “We are working on new standards of conduct that students and parents will have to sign. They will contain a scale of consequences in the event of violation of the rules or disruption.”

“Zero tolerance must always prevail.”

Lotta Edholm, Minister of Schools

at franceinfo

To achieve this goal, at the end of the year, at Nyboho Public School, students will rate the teaching staff. On page 14 of the satisfaction questionnaire, they will have to decide on the following statement: “Adults respond if I or another student has been mistreated.” Last year, 82% of schoolchildren answered “yes”. Olivia stopped pulling at the sleeves of her vest. She gets up and turns to the director: “Me, II always felt supported by the school.” She seems relieved to have been able to confide.