By Usman Aliyu

Moroccan Princess Lalla Meryem and French First Lady Brigitte Macron on Tuesday in Rabat launched a campaign against school bullying and cyberbullying at the Abi Dar Al Ghifari Secondary School.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the launch was part of the activities lined up for the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco.

The campaign is an initiative of the National Observatory for Children’s Rights (ONDE) being presided over by the princess under the banner “Let’s Act Together,”

The initiative is part of Morocco’s efforts to protect children from school bullying, a scourge that is of global concern.

NAN reports that school bullying and cyberbullying are widespread issues affecting children and adolescents globally.

School bullying peaks between ages 10-13, with 27.5 per cent of students affected, while cyberbullying increases with age, affecting 15.6 per cent of 14-17-year-olds.

The global rate studies says one in three students worldwide experience bullying and cyberbullying affects one in five teenagers.

The Moroccan campaign comprises several parallel actions, including the distribution of a school bullying awareness capsule to 3,770 middle and high schools, and the design and development of the “iTyhad” app to combat and prevent bullying in schools.

The campaign also provided for launching of a three-year training programme to combat bullying and cyberbullying, in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports.

At the occasion, four engineering students, a child and a child psychiatrist made a presentation from the “iTyhad” app.

The app was developed during a Hackathon initiated by the Moroccan princess in March and had brought together 15 universities across the country.

The two personalities also watched an awareness-raising video on bullying in schools, which was simultaneously broadcast in 3,300 multimedia rooms of the French Ministry of Education.

They, similarly, attended a workshop with 14 middle-school students, led by a child psychiatrist and a psychologist from the ONDE programme.

Meryem and Macron also viewed a video on the achievements of the Children’s Parliament, created in 1999 by King Mohammed VI.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz