After years of torment at school that led him to a violent suicide attempt, Jonathan Destin had made the fight against bullying his life's mission. At the age of 27, he died at his mother's house, in her sleep. The Minister of Education, as well as the stars he rubbed shoulders with during his awareness-raising missions pay tribute to him.

[Update of August 25, 2022 at 10:15 a.m.] An emblematic figure in the fight against school harassment , Jonathan Destin, from Marquette-Lez-Lille in Hauts-de-France and aged 27, died on Saturday August 20 , as announced by his mother Marie-Pierre on FaceBook two days later, Monday August 22, 2022. Under his post, many Internet users paid tribute to him, saluting his courage and his commitment. The Minister of Education Pap NDiaye also wanted to salute his memory on his Twitter account: 'Jonathan destin had the courage to put words where violence and hatred of school bullying want to impose silence'

Jonathan Destin had the courage to put words where violence and hatred of school bullying want to impose silence.
I undertake to extend his word and his commitment to the school, and I send my deepest condolences to his family and to those who loved him.

— Pap Ndiaye (@PapNdiaye) August 23, 2022

Harassed in several establishments, for several years

Left at the age of 27, in still undefined circumstances, Jonathan Destin lived a terrible childhood and adolescence, the object of perpetual bullying at school, in college, and in two vocational high schools, namely from CM2 until he was 16, so : ' For six years , they harassed me. They beat me, they extorted me, they told me they would kill my parents 'he testified to the Voice of the North . Unbearable school harassment, which led him on February 8, 2011 to set himself on fire , before flowing into the Deûle. Saved narrowly, Jonathan will not come out unscathed from his suicide attempt: burned to 72%, he will therefore undergo 23 operations, two and a half months of coma, three years of hospitalization and incessantly painful sequelae according to the regional daily .

Primary mission in the fight against school bullying: free speech

But miraculously alive, Jonathan was on a mission: free speech and fight against school bullying , in any form. After numerous testimonies in the media and the writing of a book, doomed to kill me (XO editions, 2013), his story was also adapted on the small screen in the TV movie ' The day I burned my heart ', with Michael Youn and Camille Chamoux. His voice, his message, had taken him to collaborate with celebrities like Nicolas Sirkis in 2019, during a major awareness campaign in schools. Emus, the singer of Indochine group and Michael Youn paid tribute to the young man on their social networks, showing him friendship and admiration for his fight and his work of resilience: 'You have been a speaker for what hatred, violence and stupidity try to pass over in silence.
We won't forget you. Neither you nor your fight.” thus wrote the actor, who played his CPE in the television reproduction of his story.

Jonathan forever by your side pic.twitter.com/7jnwMN3Vmq

— nicola sirkis (@nicolasirkis) August 22, 2022

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michael Youn Official (@michaelyoun)

If at the time, Jonathan, overwhelmed by fear and shame, had not spoken for six years about his ordeal, the young man had been determined since his release from the hospital to release the words of the victims. . From middle school to high school, Jonathan never ceased to hammer home the first line of defense to adopt in the event of harassment : 'You have to talk about it. Do not be silent in any case. To a person you trust. And if necessary, notify the police because harassment is punishable by law. 'he said when the TV movie was released in 2018, repeating it the following year during an awareness mission: ' freeing up speech is the first thing to do. It's the gesture that saves . Then, saying what the stalkers risk at the criminal level is also very good because children often think it's just a game. I want things to change. Harassment, to stop it, you have to talk about it. '

Fight against school bullying: what will the Minister of Education Pap NDiaye do?

In full overhaul of the school with his inclusive school project, the Minister of Education Pap NDiaye spoke extensively about the five main areas he intends to develop during his mandate, without however including the fight against school bullying. .

On the occasion of a conference at Sciences Po last July, the minister had tersely replied to a student who questioned him on this subject that he will try to improve this chapter during his mandate, reported France Blue . Next Friday, August 26, its back-to-school press conference will take place. There is no doubt that the Minister will be questioned on this subject, less than a week before the start of the 2022-2023 school year. In the meantime, in his Twitter post tribute to Jonathan Destin, the minister affirms: ' I am committed to extending the word and its commitment to the school'.

Source journaldesfemmes.fr