“Absolute priority” for the return to school for the government, school bullying is also combated on TV. On the occasion of the National Day to combat this “scourge”, as Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne recently described it, France Télévisions is mobilizing to raise awareness among its viewers, particularly the youngest among them. To help them cope and find answers to their questions, youth programs will address this subject.
This is the case of Okoo-koo on France 4, which has put together a special issue for this Wednesday at 3 p.m. (also available on Lumni.fr) aimed at 6-12 year olds. Teenagers can turn to What is the information? on Franceinfo, which in parallel with its news on Thursday, will organize a live on TikTok from 6 p.m.
“At 8 years old, we understand, we see and we experience things”
For Manon, actress and co-host of Okoo-koo, discussing this theme with its young audience is not excessively complex. “Children should not be taken for babies. At 8 years old, we understand, we see and we experience things,” she responds to 20 minutes. ” It happens to everyone. And even if we haven’t experienced it personally, there are people around us who are experiencing it. The fight is precisely to ensure that it is not difficult to talk about it,” she believes. For the program team, the whole challenge of this special program was to address their little viewers freely, without taboo. “We even talked about the harassers, trying to understand why, saying that perhaps something had happened in their lives, that they were reproducing something… The idea was just to talk about all the situations and understand them. »
Okoo-koo will also rely on testimonies from celebrities, in particular that of Christophe Willem, present on set to talk about what he went through during childhood. “It’s important that someone talks about it with their words and their experiences,” emphasizes Manon. “We also talked about Slimane, Louane, Clara Luciani, who talk a lot about harassment in their music,” she adds. It happens to lots of people and also, it doesn’t stop anything, it’s not an end in itself. It’s important that people who have visibility can talk about it to give voice to certain struggles. »
To define what bullying is, Manon, Sam and Julia, the three animators will also put themselves on stage, reproducing situations that children may encounter in the playground, for example. “We can’t put children to sleep with words, we show them and make them understand,” she adds. A message that is all the easier to convey because the team by Okoo-koo has a special relationship with its viewers. “We’re a bit like the school monos, the big brothers and big sisters. We can say and talk about anything, plus we have a certain detachment and perspective which are extremely important for giving the right advice,” says the host.
The objective of the show? Prevention. “We can’t afford to say very complicated things either, but there are plenty of children who are unhappy, or even commit suicide… We say that this has very, very important consequences, but we’ll stop there. . We want to make talking about bullying no longer taboo and show children that they are not all alone.”
“It is often adults who have the floor on these subjects”
On the side of What is the information?, the news aimed at 12-18 year olds on Franceinfo, the theme of harassment is just as crucial. “We have this objective of responding to the concerns of teenagers’ daily lives and on this subject like others, we weigh every word,” explains Nacer Boubekeur, co-presenter of the program. There, more particularly, because we know that it is complicated for them and that when we face harassment we need to be properly supported. » For this, in parallel with Thursday’s news presented by Camille Dahan, Nacer Boubekeur will host a live entirely dedicated to school bullying on the show’s TikTok account, from 6 p.m.
“It is very important for us to be present on these subjects, but also to give voice. Until now, we have done a lot of interviews with young victims of harassment. There, we try to go a little further and push the logic by saying that we have a little more live time and that we will be able to give advice,” he emphasizes. The objective of this moment of exchange? Collect testimonies, help teenagers identify situations of harassment but also offer them keys to getting out of it. Among other things, remember the numbers to call if necessary [le 3020] or “help them identify signals and free up speech, for example, by speaking to a trusted loved one, a teacher…”
“I know it’s hard to talk”
At his side, the journalist will count on the presence of therapist Emmanuelle Piquet, author in particular of the book School bullying in 100 questions. She will also give her advice to the little ones on set by Okoo-koo. “She came to explain to us how to reverse the situation in particular,” explains host Manon. We also say that it’s important to talk to someone about it, but not just anyone, someone you trust, someone who is more of an adult. »
“I know it’s difficult to talk, it’s very scary and that’s why it’s important,” she adds. But it was important to me to do this show because when I was little, if I had seen one like this, it would have changed a lot of things. »
If this program is part of the National Day to Combat Bullying at School, others on the subject and intended for young audiences should appear soon. TF1 has advanced to 20 minutes that the group was currently working with Gulli, France Télévisions, Disney, Canal+ and Bayard on a joint project of a series of short animated programs around the theme for early 2024, initiated by make.org and produced by 2 Minutes.