2023-09-20 16:17:20
A 14-year-old boy was handcuffed by police at a school on the outskirts of Paris, accused of having made threats to a transsexual student. Educational personnel have protested the scene, while the Government undertakes to combat “the scourge of harassment” in this way.
First modification: 09/20/2023 – 16:17
3 min
The controversial arrest, in the middle of class, of a high school student suspected of harassing a transsexual student in Alfortville (Val-de-Marne department) was carried out “in accordance with the law”, declared on Wednesday the government, which He claimed to send “very strong messages” to the harassers.
The arrest of the 14-year-old schoolboy on Monday continued to cause controversy on Wednesday in the vicinity of the school, and in the educational community in general, with some underlining the need for an “electroshock” to combat bullying, and others considering it “abnormal” to stop to a minor in front of his class.
“It was done with the agreement of the prosecutor” and “the educational team,” said the Government spokesperson. “This is how we are going to confront the scourge of bullying, and this is how we are going to protect our children, sending these strong messages,” insisted Olivier Véran.
On the other hand, a police source told the AFP agency that the police had “intervened with the agreement of the prosecutor and the educational team”, and that the arrest “had been carried out taking into account the nature of the extremely serious threats that required urgent arrest.”
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The student, who attended another school, was allegedly threatened with phrases such as “we are going to cut your throat” and “I hate your race, fuck you, go die, kill yourself, you disgusting faggot, transsexual,” according to this source.
On the spot, the students and parents interviewed by AFP did not understand why the boy had been detained in this way, and not outside school or somewhere else.
“It doesn’t seem very appropriate,” said Lamia H., 39, a Parisian public transportation agent and mother of a student. “He’s still a teenager, he’s a minor. It’s really not normal,” she said, adding that “although I don’t agree with the facts” of the bullying.
Shock
Young people who presented themselves as companions of the detainee were moved.
“For me, it was impossible for the police to come into class,” confides a 14-year-old girl. She insists that the arrest occurred without physical violence, but it “shocked” the class.
“The director knocked on the door and told us that there was an arrest in progress. Police officers arrived, grabbed him by the arm” and “handcuffed him, explaining the charges against him,” he said. “We were shocked and laughing nervously.”
Anonymously, another student said that the teacher himself “was shocked and couldn’t continue” with his class.
Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the main secondary school union, said: “It raises the question of the police entering the school when there is no emergency situation.”
For the FCPE, the main parent federation, “it is incomprehensible and shocking that a student could be detained like this,” declared Ghislaine Morvan-Dubois, treasurer.
“We are receptive to the fact that it is shocking,” Laurent Zameczkowski, spokesman for Peep, another parents’ federation, told AFP. “But we cannot continue like this,” he added. “Attitudes have to change, and perhaps this kind of shock was necessary.”
Arrests in schools occur “only when there is an emergency situation, when there is no other choice,” a police source said, adding that the school principal can object. “They are still minors. I don’t see the point,” this source continued. Another police source defended the “educational effect” of this type of detention for students, for this type of situation, harassment and serious threats.
Education Minister Gabriel Attal said he “understands” that this “may raise questions,” while declaring that “there can be no serenity without authority” and that bullying requires “a quick reaction.” “No one should underestimate a phenomenon that has caused the tragic death of several young people in our country and that is rotting the lives of thousands of others.”
The schoolboy, who expressed his regret, appeared before the prosecutor on Tuesday. He will have to carry out “an activity to benefit the community” in the coming weeks.
(With information from AFP)
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