In Cléon, in Seine-Maritime, mayor Frédéric Marche has decided to charge their parents for damage committed in the town by minor children.
A decision that risks causing controversy. The mayor of Cléon (Seine-Maritime), Frédéric Marche, declared that he no longer wanted to bear the cost of repairs following damage caused by minor delinquents in the city.
So, annoyed at the broken doors or emptied fire extinguishers, he decided to make the parents of the minors responsible for the acts pay the repair bills.
“The mayor has a system that allows children to be summoned with their parents in order to explain and make them pay when due. This is the decision that was taken,” the mayor of the town, located in the north-west of France, told CNEWS.
Making parents of children guilty of damage pay is a logical decision for this mayor, but it is not for certain residents: “The parents have nothing to do with it. Let’s not forget that before, there were centers and that they dissolved these associations. Automatically, there is no more supervision,” testified one of them.
On the contrary, others supported this initiative: “If it’s the parents who pay, the children will be careful,” explained another resident of the town of nearly 4,900 inhabitants.
In recent months, the total cost of the damage has been estimated at nearly 2,000 euros. In his small town, with no municipal police, the mayor explained that he had not found any other solution: “At some point, there is annoyance and in our society we have to say things to each other, without adding to it. To speak of authority is not to be authoritarian.
“It’s unfortunate to say but, today, it’s when we make people pay that we manage to obtain results,” he concluded. According to him, this approach could inspire other municipalities.
