Bullying in primary school
Verified 27 March 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
A student repeatedly experiences verbal, moral or physical abuse from one or more other students? He is then a victim of school harassment. This is an offense punishable by law. Here is the information you need to know to deal with a situation of school harassment.
A pupil is the victim of school harassment when he suffers from repeatedly, of violence verbal, moral or physical on the part of one or more other pupils.
These acts of violence are, for example, insults, mockery, bullying, rejection of a group, jostling, beatings, robbery.
School harassment can occur inside or outside of the school.
Academic harassment leads to deterioration of living conditions of the student. This includes anxiety, falling educational outcomes and depression.
The situation differs depending on whether you are a victim, a victim's parent or a witness to school harassment.
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You're a victim
You must notify an adult of your school. For example, you can alert the principal, a teacher, the person who monitors the canteen, the activity leader at noon or after class.
You also need to talk to your peers parents or someone in your family.
You can also contact the 3018, national number for victims of harassment.
This number allows you to report the problem of school harassment that you are experiencing. You will get advice and support to deal with the situation.
Who shall I contact
National harassment hotline
To ask your questions anonymously and confidentially about school harassment.
By telephone
3018
Open 7 days a week, from 9am to 11pm
Free and anonymous call
Website
Victim's parent
You must contact the school board. You will be asked to describe in detail the harassment experienced by your child.
You can also contact the 3018, national number for victims of harassment.
This number allows you to report the problem of school harassment experienced by your child. You will get advice and support to deal with the situation.
Who shall I contact
National harassment hotline
To ask your questions anonymously and confidentially about school harassment.
By telephone
3018
Open 7 days a week, from 9am to 11pm
Free and anonymous call
Website
Warning
Do not attempt to manage the problem yourself by contacting the perpetrator.
Witness
You must notify an adult of the school. He will then take charge of the victim's situation. For example, you can alert the principal, a teacher, the person who monitors the canteen, the activity leader at noon or after class.
You can also contact the 3018, national number for victims of harassment.
This number allows you to report the problem of school harassment that you are witnessing. You will get advice and support to deal with the situation.
Who shall I contact
National harassment hotline
To ask your questions anonymously and confidentially about school harassment.
By telephone
3018
Open 7 days a week, from 9am to 11pm
Free and anonymous call
Website
The school's management must respect a protocol of support.
Infographie - 1st degree harassment management protocol
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1- Detection of the situation of school harassment
When the principal is informed of the existence of facts that may constitute harassment, he must bring the teaching team together to discuss the problem.
Interview with the victim
The principal must invite the pupil concerned to explain in detail the situation he is experiencing.
The objective is to identify the facts that may be considered harassment and to identify the perpetrators.
Safeguards put in place
Protective measures are immediately put in place for the victim:
- Identification of a referent adult (such as a teacher) to interact with the victim regularly
- Increased vigilance by informing all staff of the situation
- Mobilization of colleagues close to the victim
Interview with the victim's parents
The victim’s parents are informed of the situation.
The school's management informs them of the measures that will be put in place to deal with the problem.
They are involved in dealing with the situation and are informed of their rights.
2- Implementation of the harassment procedure
The school principal and the national education inspector put in place different measures when a case of school harassment is found. This is the harassment procedure.
Reporting of harassment
The school principal reports the harassment situation on the app Establishment Facts. He shall specify the measures taken. This helps inform departmental and academic referees responsible for harassment.
FYI
Harassment referees are privileged interlocutors of families. They accompany them until the situation is resolved.
In the event of serious and persistent harassment, the school principal must to report the facts to the public prosecutor.
Interview with perpetrators and witnesses of harassment
Witnesses, authors and their parents are received separately by the school management. The aim is to identify the problem of harassment precisely in order to put in place appropriate measures.
It is also a question of the school's management making the author aware of the facts alleged against him and their consequences for the victim.
Follow-up of the student who has been harassed
The school principal inquires daily about the victim’s condition.
The Director may call upon the health and social workers to support the student. They may also advise the family to seek outside help from their doctor or hospital.
The school principal regularly informs the family of developments.
Follow-up and punishment of the perpetrator of harassment
The school principal calls on school staff to observe the attitude of the bullying student. He regularly discusses the situation with the teaching team.
If the harassment continues, the school principal can call on a departmental team to resolve the situation. National education psychologists and health workers are involved.
The measures the following may be taken against the harasser:
- The school principal can suspend access to school for a maximum of 5 days.
- It can be written off and assigned to another school without the agreement of its legal representatives. To do so, his behavior must constitute a risk to the safety or health of other pupils.
- The director can suspend access to school for the duration of the delisting.
- After being written off and admitted to his new school, he is subject to a enhanced pedagogical and educational monitoring, at least until the end of the current school year.
A harassment prevention program was being implemented in schools, colleges and high schools. That's the program LIGHTHOUSE.
The preventive measures to combat bullying in schools These include:
- Fill in a anonymous questionnaire by pupils from EC2. The purpose of this questionnaire is to assess, at least once a year, whether pupils may be subjected to school harassment. In case of identification of a situation at risk, the pupils of the class concerned may be subject to a re-individual self-assessment. This evaluation will be carried out, with the agreement of the parents, without anonymity.
- 10 hours of training per year from CP devoted to the harassment prevention
- Training dealing with harassment situations of 5 personal resources (at least) by constituency of 1er degree. This resource team is responsible for implementing the harassment management protocol. More generally, all school staff must be trained to combat bullying at school.
FYI
One national anti-harassment day is organized every year.
Students and their parents are also made aware of the existence of the 3018, national number for victims of harassment.
Who shall I contact
National harassment hotline
To ask your questions anonymously and confidentially about school harassment.
By telephone
3018
Open 7 days a week, from 9am to 11pm
Free and anonymous call
Website
Yes, the victim, accompanied by his legal representative (parent, guardian, ad hoc administrator,...), can complain against the perpetrator.
The victim, through his or her legal representative, may also to bring a civil action.
In any case, the victim has 6 yearsAfter the fact, to file a complaint.
The complaint can be filed in a police station or a gendarmerie. It can also be filed by mail.
On the spot
The victim and his or her legal representative may contact a police station or a gendarmerie brigade of his or her choice.
The police or gendarmerie refer the complaint to the public prosecutor.
By mail
The complaint must be filed with the public prosecutor.
The victim, accompanied by his or her legal representative, must send it by mail to the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.
Who shall I contact
The mail shall specify the following:
- Civil status and full contact details of the victim (address and telephone number)
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Name of the alleged perpetrator if the victim knows him (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
- Name and address of any witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
- Evidence Documents
- Whether the victim wishes to become a civil party
The victim can use the following mail template:
File a complaint with the public prosecutor
The complaint may be sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.
The complaint can also be filed directly at the court's reception.
In all cases, a receipt is given to the victim as soon as the Office of the Public Prosecutor has registered the complaint.
The presence of a lawyer is not mandatory for the lodging of a complaint and throughout the procedure until the trial before the correctional court.
The penalties differ depending on whether the perpetrator is a minor under 13, a minor over 13 or an adult.
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Author under 13 years of age
Miners of under 13 years Guilty of bullying cannot go to jail or pay a fine. They are at risk of penalties provided by specific arrangements.
Author under age 13
The penalties provided for depend on the seriousness of the consequences of the harassment on the person concerned:
- Where school harassment has not resulted in total incapacity for work (missed school days) or has resulted in total incapacity for work of less than 8 days, it shall be punishable by 1 and a half years imprisonment and €7,500 fine at the most.
- Where school harassment has resulted in a total incapacity for work of more than 8 days, the penalties shall be increased to 2 and a half years and €7,500 fine at the most.
- Where school harassment has led the person concerned to commit suicide or to attempt suicide, the penalties shall be increased to 5 years imprisonment and €7,500 fine at the most.
Major Author
The penalties provided for depend on the seriousness of the consequences of the harassment on the person concerned:
- Where school harassment has not resulted in total incapacity for work (missed school days) or has resulted in total incapacity for work of less than 8 days, it shall be punishable by 3 years imprisonment and €45,000 of fine.
- Where school harassment has resulted in a total incapacity for work of more than 8 days, the penalties shall be increased to 5 years and €75,000 of fine.
- Where school harassment has led the person concerned to commit suicide or to attempt suicide, the penalties shall be increased to 10 years imprisonment and €150,000 of fine.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
National harassment hotline
To ask your questions anonymously and confidentially about school harassment.
By telephone
3018
Open 7 days a week, from 9am to 11pm
Free and anonymous call
Website
- School
Obligation to report to the prosecutor
Moral harassment
Right to education - general provisions
Responsibility of the authors' parents
Responsibility of the State
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Ministry of Education
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