Spitting, insults, slaps… in this small school in Gard, parents are mobilizing to say an end to the violence

There was spitting, insults, slaps on the back of the head… At the school in the village of Poulx, incidents have increased since the start of the school year. Tuesday, November 5, little Hugo, 9 years old, came home complaining of pain in his ribs. Before admitting that he was attacked by three children, a girl and two boys, just before entering class at 2 p.m.

Strangled in the toilet

In response to supposed insults a little later in the morning, Hugo sees a little one of the trio running his finger over his neck, telling him that he was going to have a party for him. And so he found himself on the ground, hit several times a few hours later, he will say. A fact which is not marginal. “Last year, he was caught in the toilet and strangled by the same girl. She only got 20 minutes of punishment. The little girl grows up and the violence grows with her,” explains Alexandra, Hugo's mother, on the verge of tears. “I had confidence in the teachers, the management, but nothing was done. Today, we can't do more.”

Last Thursday, because this same little girl had lost at the ball, another child would have suffered her wrath, receiving a brush and spit. This Tuesday, November 12, it was to say “No to violence” that most of the parents of this double CM1-CM2 class found themselves in front of the Georges-Brassens elementary group, refusing to let their children go to class. “I can’t drop my child off at school and wish them a good day as if nothing had happened,” deplores Harmonie. Whose son, Nathan, 9 years old, also suffered acts of violence. “There were already problems last year and in previous years,” explains the mother, indicating that the three children who would be the main troublemakers would have, this year, been put in separate classes.

Falling academic results

“And in ours, we have this little girl who is 11 years old, who rules and who finds herself facing a teacher who is in the first class, who is still a trainee. We all support her because she does good work, despite everything. Good work, but a deteriorating atmosphere within the class and academic results which are affected by several students. “She responds to the teacher, she insults us, she hits us, like that, for nothing, when the teacher writes on the board,” describes Nathan. This other mother of a 9 year old boy saw her son's behavior change: “He has always been a good student, has always done very well. But shortly after the start of the school year, he told me that he had been hit. Since then, he has had stomach aches almost every morning. He doesn't want to tell me nothing, but I know full well that it's because he's anxious: as soon as I allow him not to go to class, he's so relieved…”

“We are so sorry it has come to this.”

And when we question the parents of the children concerned to find out if they were able to discuss this situation together, Hugo's mother shakes her head: “My husband tried to talk to the child's mother. She received him very well, but told him that what happened at school had to be resolved by the school…”

In front of the entrance to the school group this Tuesday morning, the mother of the child incriminated is also there, not seeming to understand what is going on: “My daughter doesn't tell me anything”, she claims, adding however that her child is very frequently insulted because of his origins, in a village where cultural diversity is poorly received, she suggests. She claims to have had no contact with the director or the teacher regarding her child's behavior. “Lies”, respond some parents, supporting several reports already made. “We are so sorry it has come to this, finally breathes a last mother, summarizing the thoughts of all these parents. We don't want to stigmatize this little one, but it's also not possible that we leave our children 8 hours a day with fear…”