France analyzes what fails for a student to threaten his teacher with a gun and another to record it | Society

It does not matter if the weapon was false. Or that it was, according to its author, a joke. The image of a high school student pointing the gun at the head of his teacher, while another boy recorded the scene, has caused a deep shock in France. And it will have consequences. The young man was charged on Sunday for "aggravated violence", while the president, Emmanuel Macron, has demanded that measures be studied to avoid actions like this one. No solution is ruled out a priori, although Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Monday that all will be analyzed calmly. But there is a step that could be taken already, he added: the possibility of extending to the institutes the ban on the use of mobile phones that already took effect this course in primary and intermediate schools (up to 15 years).

"I recommend high schools (secondary schools), depending on the situation, depending on the abuses they may find of the use of mobile phones, strongly regulate its use"Blanquer said in an interview on the station France Info. As he explained, mobiles are often the "origin of cyberbullying, of harassment against students, even a teacher, to film them and then boast about it on social networks."

The events occurred last Thursday at an institute in Créteil, outside of Paris. In the video, which began to be distributed on social networks a day later, which led the teacher to file a complaint, you see how a young man, standing, points a gun at the head of the teacher, who She is sitting at a desk. The boy asks him to write on the list as "present" in the class, instead of absent because he was late, as apparently it was the teacher's intention. In the recording she shows calm and the atmosphere of the class does not seem tense; and another student is seen, whose identity is still being investigated, getting up to pose behind the teacher doing "the comb" while the aggressor continues pointing it with the gun.

Menacer a professeur is unacceptable. J'ai sued au minister of l'Education nationale et au ministerie de l'Intérieur de prendre toutes les mesures pour ces ces faits soient punis et définitivement proscrits de nos écoles.

- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 20, 2018

It is not clear if the teacher is aware that the weapon is false or not, extreme According to the minister Blanquer does not detract from the facts in any case. And it's not the only one. "Threatening a teacher is unacceptable," President Macron said this weekend. The president, married to a retired teacher, urged Blanquer and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to "take all measures so that these facts are punished and definitely banned from our schools."

In a joint statement, both ministers condemned the "threats and vexations" suffered by the teacher, as well as the dissemination of the video. "The school is the cradle of the republic and we are going to reconquer every square meter of the republic," Castaner said.

For his part, Blanquer rejected on Monday accusations of "laxity" by the government launched by the far-right leader Marine Le Pen. "We must react firmly each time something like this happens. It is what has happened. There is no laxism in what has happened since Friday, quite the opposite, "he said. However, many teachers went to social networks on Monday to, under the label #Pasdevague [en castellano "sin líos, sin desorden"], denounce what they consider the lack of support from their superiors when they report abuses of the students.

The assailant, who turns 16 next month, was formally charged on Sunday with "aggravated violence," a charge that carries up to 40 months in jail, according to Agence France Presse. Although he will remain at liberty until he has to appear before a juvenile court, several restrictive measures have been imposed, such as the prohibition of contacting the victim and carrying a weapon, as well as the obligation to continue attending school, for which he will be registered. in a new institute. In accordance with Le Parisien, the young man said that he acted "in a joking tone without wanting to intimidate the teacher" and said he did not know that the scene had been recorded.

This week a "strategic committee" should be held to elaborate an "ambitious action plan" against violence against teachers, according to Interior and Education. Blanquer assured that no measure will be ruled out, but noted that some proposals, such as the installation of detectors at the entrance of the institutes, could create other problems. "I'm not sure it's a good solution. It creates an atmosphere and a congestion at the entrance that causes other security problems, "he warned.