This Monday, November 4, 2024, is a back-to-school day apparently like any other at the Thomas Pesquet school in Montfort-sur-Risle (Eure), a village of around 800 inhabitants. At noon, in a hubbub of vacation memories, a majority of the students found their way to the school canteen. Without paying much attention to the presence, in the corner of the dining room, of a volunteer municipal councilor. This monitors everyone's good behavior, while cases of school harassment have troubled the school for several months. Until the implementation of this system, assumed by the mayor of the town, Jean-Luc Barre.
The problems began during the previous school year, when a trio of boys from the CM1/CM2 class stood out in the village, “because parents took their children out of school to go to the village school neighbor,” says the mayor. “The problem had to be resolved. The parents of the accused received a letter. They were on borrowed time. » But the measure was not enough to prevent recurrence: “This year, three little girls were martyred by the same people. In addition, these boys are so unpleasant that the school teacher has gone on sick leave. The girls' parents filed a complaint with the national gendarmerie, who intervened in the school. For the time being, it was calm,” specifies Jean-Luc Barre.
To decide on the reaction to adopt, the mayor received all the parents of students concerned, the representative association, and requested advice by mail from the National Education inspector. “It’s a whole thing that was put in place and not just the reaction of an elected official,” insists the mayor.
The municipality's powers being limited to daycare, after-school time and the canteen, the municipal council was not completely free to react. But he at least validated the exclusion of harassers from the canteen for five days in October. “As a result, the leader never came back. The other two, the lieutenant and the follower did not have access to the canteen,” explains the mayor. Since then, every lunchtime, four elected volunteers take turns “to monitor the smooth running of the canteen and keep an eye on the two troublemakers”.
“I know that this is not our role,” emphasizes Jean-Luc Barre, “because there is a supervisor. But she no longer represents authority, because there is too much proximity. It's not up to us to police, but then how should we react? Our intervention has resolved the problem for the moment.” He admits, however, that the system cannot be maintained for very long. And that the subject remains taboo “among other mayors, while cases like mine exist not far away”. “I have noticed this since the health crisis. Before, we never heard about the school, which is a priority for our village. I don't know how to explain it, but we are in a less friendly atmosphere. This is why we will remain vigilant,” he concludes.
