2023-06-18 14:57:00
“Justice for Lindsay, not school harassment”: several hundred people marched on Sunday in Vendin-le-Vieil, in Pas-de-Calais, in tribute to Lindsay, a harassed schoolgirl who committed suicide in May, and to demand ” concrete measures” to protect students.
“Harassment can lead to burial” chanted neighbors, friends and supporters from all over France.
“We speak to all the children who are suffering: they are not alone”, launched the mother of Lindsay, who died at 13, Betty Gervois.
She called for the fight and the support of the State against “the impunity of social networks, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok”, which “cannot continue to earn money on hateful and insulting remarks”.
“Awareness has begun (…) to the government. It’s a breath of hope,” she said, before taking the lead of the white march.
Demonstrators in white T-shirts, many with a flower in hand, marched from Lindsay College to the local high school escorted by around 30 bikers, before releasing balloons back to college.
Hubert Constancias, a 60-year-old retiree, came from Puy-de-Dôme with his granddaughter, because “it was very important for her”, “shocked by this story”.
“I know many who have been harassed, but when we went to see the principal, we were listened to,” says this 11-year-old schoolgirl.
“The message we want to send is above all + stop harassment +, that everyone becomes aware, educates their children”, that there are “concrete measures” and “more listening in schools”, has underlined Magali Levecque, mother of a friend of Lindsay.
The teenager is “also a victim” of harassment, according to her mother, who wants to move to change schools.
After Lindsay’s family, received on June 5 by the Minister of Education, considered its position “insufficient”, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, promised to make “the fight against bullying the absolute priority for the start of the 2023 school year”.
But some parents remain skeptical: we need “much stronger measures, a stronger reactivity”, estimates Olivier Dehaen, father of another schoolgirl of the establishment, who also made a report for harassment.
In the case of Lindsay, four minors were indicted for “school harassment leading to suicide”, and an adult for “death threats”.
An administrative investigation has also been opened by the ministry. Lindsay’s family has filed a complaint against the establishment, the rectorate, the police and Facebook.
06/18/2023 15:20:23 – Vendin-le-Vieil (France) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
#hundreds #people #march #school #bullying