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discipline in french schools


rachelle

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Does anyone know anything about discipline in french schools particularly for serious acts of violence, for example i heard they don't have true exclusions in france so how does it work? Im doing an essay on violence in french schools so any releveant information on school discipline would be very helpful.

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It depends what you mean by serious act of violence.  Obviously some just go directly to the police. But some don't especially if it is between two pupils and the parents do not wish to make a complaint.

To expell a pupil there is a procedure called a conseil de discipline.  The  pupil  can be  excluded for  the time  until the conseil de discipline and only return for this. The conseil is made up of some parents, some teachers, some other staff members, some pupils and always the head who is the chair.  These are elected at the beginning of the year from among their peers.  The child can be accompanied by their parents or somebody else of their choice.  Other teachers or adults or even children can be asked to attend in order to give evidence.  The head will explain the situation, go through the child's record, but just a little, in class so and so etc, then talk about the incident.  Then, others will be asked to contribute, the members of the conseil can ask questions.  The child will have an opportunity to say what they have to say, as will their representative.  When this is all over, those who are not members of the conseil go out and there is a discussion and a vote.  After, the result is handed down, it can be a permanent exclusion or a temporary one, or a suspended exclusion meaning that if anything happens in the future the child will be expelled.  There you go, hope it helps.

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Oh yes they do have permanent exclusions and not for just acts of really serious violence either but lesser acts as our neighbour's son found out when he was caught bullying and punching another pupil at the local collège. He now attends the local Maison Familiale Rurale for all it's worth as he is worse than ever by doing vandalism in the village,smoking and drinking etc just to look big in front of the other kids.I have even had the gendarmes at my door looking for him yet he is and has always been polite and friendly to us and we have know since he was a bump in his mum's tummy.
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Well, I just asked my 14 year old son what happens in his school when his schoolmates do not adhere to the rules...he said 'they get sent to the red haired lady in the office'. He said going to her is 'like going to hell'. He says she is always 'cranky and has a vendetta'.   Apparently she makes them quake in their shoes at this school.

All power to her!

 

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[quote user="Val_2"]Oh yes they do have permanent exclusions and not for just acts of really serious violence either but lesser acts as our neighbour's son found out when he was caught bullying and punching another pupil at the local collège. He now attends the local Maison Familiale Rurale for all it's worth as he is worse than ever by doing vandalism in the village,smoking and drinking etc just to look big in front of the other kids.I have even had the gendarmes at my door looking for him yet he is and has always been polite and friendly to us and we have know since he was a bump in his mum's tummy.[/quote]

Val (or anyone else) - Are Maison Familiale Rurale for such children?  My 15 year old daughter is thinking of going to one because of the amount of work experience they offer.  There's a porte ouverte this month.

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Yes, Rachelle, as Tourangelle says.

However, it is citizenship in the legal sense (citizenship, voting procedures, and so on) rather than anything moral or ethical.

Still a good idea though, even if there isn't much of it.

Anyway, discipline.  Yes, French schools are probably generally stricter than British schools, but discipline can still be a major problem, and it's a problem that's growing.       

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Once again I think it comes down to location and whether or not the school wants to acknowledge a problem and deal with it. A local college (not my son's) failed to do anything about a pupil with known behavioural difficulties who forced another boy to perform a serious sex act on him. The school turned a blind eye and even refused to help with the police investigation.

The French government produces a 'league table' of violent acts per establishment so you can look up your own school and see what has gone on. Lycees professionels were by far the worst as I remember.

In 2006 there were over 80,000 violent incidents in French schools. Unfortunately I can't remember the web address but if I do, I'll post it. It made interesting reading.

 

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