France unveils bullying hotline for students to clamp down on harassment
France's Education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has unveiled new plans to tackle bullying in France, which affects up to 700,000 students every year. Victims will now be able to call a new hotline number and report bullying, anonymously.
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The new emergency number for students being bullied is 3020.
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem unveiled the helpline service on Thursday, as part of the government's plans to stamp out bullying.
"Some people in our society imagine that bullying is a rite of passage in a student's life," the Education minister told reporters regrettingly. It's not.
Seven hundred thousand students are bullied every year in France, according to the ministry, a phenomenon that "can no longer be allowed to fester," Belkacem said.
Bullying can take several forms: threats, exclusion, aggression, or nowadays public humiliation on social networks like Facebook.
A separate number for cases of cyber bullying was also revealed, and is 0800 200 000.
The new measures, which also include a national day of action against bullying and harassment, scheduled for November 5, have been a long time in the making.
Awareness campaigns were initiated under the Conservative government speared by the then Education minister Luc Chatel, and later taken up by Belkacem's predecessor Vincent Peillon.
Families were already able to call two hotline services, but the new number, assures Belkacem, is much easier to remember.
Lines open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
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