Published on April 18, 2024 by Michel Tendil, Localtis
Youth, education and training, Security
It was after having discussed with the mayor of Viry-Châtillon, Jean-Marie-Vilain, last week, that the Prime Minister decided to go to his city this Thursday to give a speech on the reestablishment of authority. The event was supposed to mark the “hundred days” of his presence at Matignon. This town in Essonne was marked, at the beginning of April, by the lynching of young Shamseddine, 15, near his college… Since then, Gabriel Attal has been caught up in the news, with the murder in Grande-Synthe of Philippe , 23, killed with a baseball bat, Tuesday April 16. Two minors were taken into custody. “Let us not give in to fear, nor to the spirit of revenge. Let us continue to defend Living Together in our city,” said Martial Beyaert, the mayor of Grande-Synthe, on X. Other events of this type have punctuated the news in recent days, including the violent attack on a 13-year-old girl, leaving her school in Montpellier.
These cases reflect the climate of “ultraviolence” which the Prime Minister wants to tackle, even if, according to his office, it is not a question of chasing news items, but of facing “a movement which crosses the Company”.
Because for the head of government, there is a “slide” of part of the youth towards violence. “How did we arrive at a situation where, while they represent 1 in 20 French people, adolescents aged 13 to 17 represent 1 in 10 accused of assault and battery, 1 in 5 in drug trafficking, 1 in 3 in armed robberies”, he asked on Thursday, surrounded by ministers Nicole Belloubet (Education) and Éric Dupond-Moretti (Justice), the delegated minister Sarah El Haïry (Children, Youth, Families) and Secretary of State Sabrina Agresti-Roubache (City and Citizenship). “In summary, there are twice as many adolescents involved in assault and battery, four times more in drug trafficking, and seven times more in armed robberies than in the general population,” he continued. , before listing several causes such as the breakdown of the family environment, addiction to screens, individualism, “the entry of ideologies enemies of the Republic” and “no wave”.
Meeting with mayors next week
The former Minister of Education, who declared “taking the cause of school” to Matignon, is banking heavily on schooling (“all middle school students will be in school every day of the week, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.”), the removal of young people with problems to boarding schools, the empowerment of parents (with the possibility of community service for failing parents). It also envisages a toughening of the criminal response, with a questioning of the minority excuse (see details below).
“It’s true that the violence has been raised to a level almost never before reached,” commented Jean-Marie Vilain on Thursday on RTL, specifying that everyone had “a small part of responsibility”. “We didn’t feel things. We can see in the street, young people of 10, 12 years old hanging around late at night. There is a problem of authority that we will have to reestablish,” he said. he says. Viry-Châtillon is one of the municipalities which have issued curfew orders for minors in the summer.
The main proposals announced by Gabriel Attal
Parental responsibility
– Introduce fines against parents who do not appear when summoned by the juvenile judge.
– Make both parents jointly and severally responsible for financial compensation when a child has caused damage.
– Community service for defaulting parents.
– Suggest to parents whose child “starts to get in with bad people” that he be sent to a boarding school, far from his neighborhood, to “find a framework”.
Control of screens and social networks
– A commission on the regulation of screen uses must report its conclusions by the end of the month.
– Application of a new law on age control of young people registered on social networks, with a numerical majority set at 15 years.
Authority at school and secularism
– Remove points on the certificate or on the baccalaureate and this mention is indicated in Parcoursup in the event of serious disturbance within the school premises. The condition for erasing this mention and regaining these points would be the carrying out of activities of general interest within the school.
– Contract of commitment to respect the authority and values of the Republic between parents, establishments and students. Failure to comply with this contract could lead to sanctions, or even referral to court in the most serious cases.
– Generalization of learning times in primary school of respect for others and tolerance.
– Strengthening the “values of the Republic” teams which make it possible to advise teachers or school heads facing difficulties on secularism.
– Middle school students “will be educated every day of the week, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., starting with priority neighborhoods and priority education networks”.
Toughening of the criminal response
– Opening of a debate to see if “attenuations” to the “minority excuse”, a principle which means that a minor is punished less severely than an adult, are “possible” and “desirable”.
– The Minister of Justice will also consider setting up “an immediate appearance in court for young people from the age of 16” instead of 18.
– “Penal composition” measure which would allow the implementation of a sanction without trial against a minor over 13 years old if he or she recognizes the facts and accepts the sanction.
– Young people identified in schools as “beginning to drift” would attend an immediate court appearance to understand that “the rule may result in sanctions.”
– Announced during the Prime Minister’s general policy declaration, the “educational measures”, which will be the equivalent of work of general interest for minors under 16, will be implemented “from the start of the school year spring break.”
AFP
