Report denounces school bullying

ONE in 10 primary schoolchildren in France suffers serious bullying, a report for Unicef shows.

The study, by the Observatoire International de la Violence à l’Ecole, found that nine out of 10 children are happy at school, but a minority (11.7 per cent) are victimised.

The author of the report, Eric Debarbieux, said: “There is not a generalised feeling of insecurity in school, but the problem must not be underestimated.”

It followed investigations in schools in 2009-10 among children aged eight to 12.

Bullied children reported being victims of repeated aggression, ranging from having their break time snacks stolen to being insulted, threatened or even beaten up, being forced to pay money or being subjected to sexual assaults.

The levels of bullying were found to be similar whether the school was in a socially disadvantaged area or not.

The report warns against effects of bullying, including dropping out of school or absenteeism, depression and lack of self-esteem in later life.

It echoes similar conclusions in a letter to the Education Ministry signed by several well-known figures, including child psychiatrist Marcel Rufo and sociologist Edgar Morin, who denounced the phenomenon of souffres-douleur (whipping boy or “punchbag”) or boucs émissaires (scapegoats) in schools.

The ministry recently launched a study into victimisation in secondary schools, which will be repeated every two years.

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