A big green smile to say that everything is fine, up to the red emoticon that does not smile at all, theKolibri app offers – among other things – a emotions weather so that the child can share his mood of the day, as explained by Salem Tirane, president of the association Marion La Main Tendue: “From the homepage, the child will be able to decide his emotion of the day and report this information daily to his parents or simply for him.
“Kolibri” is the name of the application launched Thursday, April 7 by the association which fights against bullying and cyberbullying in schools. First present in Essonne, the association opened a new structure in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. According to the barometer that it carried out, nearly one out of two French people (41%) claim to have suffered a form of verbal, physical or psychological violence repeatedly and continuously in the school or extra-curricular context. Violence that mainly occurs in middle school (54%). It is therefore to fight against this that the association has decided to go further by launching this time a free application for children and parents.
It took a year to develop it. Its use is simple. Just download it and create an account. Then, the child or the teenager can indicate his emotion but also indicate if he is harassed or witnesses of bullying. Again, no words needed. Just start a conversation with the application that offers sentences already written. For example : “Are you a victim or a witness of bullying? Did the facts happen in your class? In the schoolyard? Is this the first time? Etc.” The child just has to click.
Emoticons instead of words
For Mathilde Zrida, in charge of the therapeutic pole of the association, the fact of not having to verbalize one’s emotions makes things easier: “In this kind of situation, either we are flabbergasted or we are afraid. We are therefore unable to put our own words. On top of that, the victims get into a guilt and if say they deserve what is happening to them. It’s very vicious and it has long-term consequences.”
The application also aims to strengthen communication with parents. They can scan a QR code on their child’s phone to follow the evolution of their emotions. If the child has shown negative emotions for several days, the parent knows this and can start a dialogue with him to try to understand why. For Mathilde Zrida “it’s really the first step in order to then be able to act.”
“I feel guilty because I did not understand”
This application did not yet exist when Nathalie’s 11-year-old son was harassed in a college in Ile-de-France where he was in sixth grade: “He complained about comrades who regularly annoyed him. He also told me that he vomited in college. It was when he had health problems that I had like a flash and that’s when everything erupted. It was a bomb. He told me he didn’t mean to hurt me so he was going to cry in the toilet. We are completely helpless as parents and we are alone. So I did some research on the internet and found the association Marion La Main Tendue.”
For this 52-year-old mother, the Kolibri application could indeed change things: “The day he doesn’t talk about it, when he’s bad, he takes his phone and clicks to say he’s not well. It can alert the parents to find a solution.” Today, Nathalie’s son has left college and is waiting for the next school year to be enrolled in an establishment “adapted to his trauma”.
Finally, the application also provides the urgent numbers competent. The user only has to click on the number he wishes to call to alert. He can also enter the contact of other people to call if necessary, such as his grandparents or any adult in whom the child trusts.
Among the useful numbers, there is 3018, 3020 or even 3114.