Violence. School bullying: spot it, talk about it, protect

Repeated mockery, shoving in the corridors, humiliating messages on social media, systematic exclusion: school bullying is the repetition of attacks, often discreet, that ends up making a child's life unbearable. Since the law of 2 March 2022, it has been a specific criminal offence in France.

What the figures say

In November 2024, during the national day against school bullying, 36,000 pupils from the third year of primary school to the last year of secondary school answered a self-assessment questionnaire. According to the Depp note published in July 2025, 5% of pupils in the third year of primary school and 3% of those in the final two years say they are bullied. In lower secondary school (collège) the proportion is about 5%, and 3% in upper secondary school (lycée), with rates twice as high among vocational CAP students.

These percentages may seem modest. Yet across the country they represent several hundred thousand children and teenagers who go to school afraid.

Bullying no longer stops at the school gate: it carries on in their pocket, on their phone.

Warning signs

A bullied child rarely talks about it unprompted, out of shame or fear of making things worse. It is often changes that raise the alarm: stomach aches in the morning, refusing to go to school, falling grades, damaged or lost belongings, disturbed sleep, isolation, unusual sadness or anger, strong reactions when a notification arrives on the phone.

How to respond

Listening without minimising ("it's nothing", "stand up for yourself") is the first step. Then inform the school: the form teacher, the education adviser (CPE) or the head, who must act. Since the end of 2023, 3018 has been the single number in France for reporting school bullying and cyberbullying. Free and confidential, it can be reached every day.

The effects of bullying can last long after the events: loss of confidence, anxiety, withdrawal, sometimes dark thoughts. Psychological support helps the child, and often the parents, to put words to what happened and to rebuild. Witnesses also need to be heard.

This article is for information only. It replaces neither a consultation nor a diagnosis, which is a doctor's role.