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Security in french schools


Chrissie

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As a non-parent, I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is moving to northern France soon.  They've just come back from visiting their daughter's new (secondary) school and she isn't impressed!   It's behind high walls and gates and students have to swipe a card and enter a pin to get in!   The mother is happy with this security but daughter is "freaking a bit". 

Can anyone say if this is typical for city schools in France?

Chrissie (81)

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Having been in quite a few secondary schools in (two) cities in France,

I can say I have never heard this before.  Gates and walls ok,

swipe cards, I've never seen.  But for the pupils in college to

get in and out of school it is quite normal for them to have to show

their carnet de correspondance, to show that they are not supposed to

be in lessons, and that their parents have signed for them to be

allowed to go out, for example, if they finish at 11.00 and don't go to

the canteen to eat.  You don't say whether it is a lycée or a

collège.  Your friend's daughter may well find she has more

freedom rather than less.

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There have been lots of problems in  city establishments here over the years ranging from murders to drug dealing and bullying with knives etc especially in "hot spots" and carried out by the pupils themselves in many cases but outsiders have also got in. Unfortunately if you live in such an area, you should be prepared for such measures unlike out in the sticks where any tom,dick or harry can wander into any educational building without hindrance, I know as I have often wandered in and out of the Lycée and collège when my kids were there for one thing or another and there isn't a soul in sight. The nearest we have to security here is a phone call asking why the child isn't attending and always a letter in the post where absence from a class has been noted.
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When I was at school at the time of the Paris bombings, the Plan Vigipirate consisted (amongst other things) of heightened security in schools and checks on people entering the school premises. Given the current climate it wouldn't surprise me if it were the same kind of thing, except more technologically advanced.
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The schools round here are waled and gated as well, I would sugest that the swipe card is just another added system to the current school management system. Actually it sounds like a good idea to me, better than finger printing as I saw on the news in the UK.
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I don't think anywhere in the UK is fingerprinting - there was an outcry about retinal pattern recognition (completely hysterical and whipped up by the media and some daft parents) so I imagine fingerprinting would send them into a frenzy. Given the sort of stakes we play for now with intruders in schools it isn't surprising that there is more emphasis on security, but there are always 'civil liberties arguments' used against.

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Our daughters old school in Saint Malo (Intra Muros) use swipe cards

and/or intercom, major  reason was of course security and the

other was just simply to keep nosy strangers inc.tourists, from

wandering around the school, which was something her school in Dinan,

was extremely bothered with.

The first time I  remember security being  stepped up was in

the mid ?  90's  when parking was banned around most schools

and barriers put up and that was in the country (some schools still

seem to have this years later) and inner cities security was even

greater.

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[quote user="Dicksmith"]I don't think anywhere in the UK is fingerprinting - there was an outcry about retinal pattern recognition (completely hysterical and whipped up by the media and some daft parents) so I imagine fingerprinting would send them into a frenzy. Given the sort of stakes we play for now with intruders in schools it isn't surprising that there is more emphasis on security, but there are always 'civil liberties arguments' used against.
[/quote]

Dick, it was on the news at least 5 times yesterday (07-02-06) and one specific area they used it for was to take the dinner money of kids, bank it, then they spent it in the canteen. It also allowed them to see who was missing dinner and who eat what. The kids thought it was a great idea as they could not get robbed of their dinner money.

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John - you have opened my eyes. I've done a bit of googling and there are several 'solutions' available - though I don't know of any in the UK, as I said there was an outcry against retinal scanning a year or so ago, and I imagine that the same lobby that was against (and still is against) security cameras in schools will rise up.

We use electronic registration, but with positive audial identification methodology and visual confirmation protocols. The teacher calls the pupil's name and looks up to check that they are there...

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Lets have bar codes on foreheads and chips under the skin. After all pets have it. Though  I like you 'audial identification methodology and visual confirmation protocols', Dick. Did you receive in-depth training in voice and visual recognition techniques, followed by counselling and stress management?
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Our local college (in a small and peaceful town) has a secuity guard on duty at all times to ensure that people arriving are supposed to be there and that pupils leaving are allowed to do so (i.e. not skipping lessons or other activities).   I guess that swipe cards etc are just another version of the same thing.
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[quote user="Tag"]Lets

have bar codes on foreheads and chips under the skin. After all pets

have it. Though  I like you 'audial identification methodology and

visual confirmation protocols', Dick. Did you receive in-depth training

in voice and visual recognition techniques, followed by counselling and

stress management?
[/quote]

Not to mention the customers at one of Barcelona's more exclusive

clubs. It allows them to wave their arm in the general direction of the

till in order to pay for their drinks and is seen either as a badge of

distinction or deeply moronic, depending on your point of view.

10,000 plus years of civilisation have brought us to this...

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote user="Opalienne"]Our local college (in a small and peaceful town) has a secuity guard on duty at all times to ensure that people arriving are supposed to be there and that pupils leaving are allowed to do so (i.e. not skipping lessons or other activities).   I guess that swipe cards etc are just another version of the same thing.[/quote]

Here's a little add on to this thread, which I could have renamed What Sarko Did Next.

The resident School Police Officer, starting with a  6 month trial in Nanterre (ouside Paris) and coming to a school near you afterwards!

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/22/content_4209805.htm

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We are currently enjoying the presence of a 19 year old French boy who is working near us in a cafe as part of a week-long exchange programme. Sounds like a good idea all round  and this programme has been arranged between my daughter's college and a school in Montpellier for some years. In a few weeks my daughter will stay with his family and work in Montpellier (hope she can understand the local accent, I can't!!). She is to be placed into a nursery school for 3-6 year olds. What is of interest to me is that there have been no checks as to my daughter's character/ background whatsoever. The idea that French schooling establishments are apparently not checking all those with close access to childern is incredible, and surely as important as physical security.........................

Pouyade

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I waited outside my boys' school with another child for half an hour. The school had locked the doors and nobody even knew he was still waiting. He is only seven.

I have been 5 minutes late and my boys have been locked out of school and nobody checking where they are (they are 8).  It's shocking really but what's the alternative, high walls and swipe cards, I think not.  Depends where you are I suppose.  My boys' UK old nursery had 8 ft high steel railings, not to keep kids in, to keep burglars out.

Georgina

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Un homme armé retenait en otages jeudi après-midi 18 élèves, un professeur et un employé dans une salle de classe du lycée Colbert de Torcy à Sablé-sur-Sarthe (Sarthe), a-t-on appris auprès de la préfecture.

Le preneur d'otages, qui dispose d'une arme de poing, est un enseignant contractuel de 33 ans, actuellement sans poste, qui a enseigné il y a deux ans dans ce lycée public, a précisé la préfecture.

Les jeunes pris en otage sont des élèves d'une classe de BEP-ventes âgés de 16 à 18 ans, selon une employée du lycée, Bernadette Mercier, jointe par téléphone.

Le reste de l'établissement, où sont scolarisés environ 1.500 élèves, a été évacué, a-t-elle indiqué.

"Actuellement, les gendarmes sur place sont en train de discuter avec le preneur d'otages à travers une porte qui a été barricadée", a indiqué le directeur de cabinet de la préfecture de la Sarthe.

Le préfet s'est également rendu sur les lieux.

Deux équipes du Groupe d'intervention de la gendarmerie nationale (GIGN), soit une quarantaine d'hommes, ont quitté jeudi après-midi la région parisienne pour Sablé-sur-Sarthe, a-t-on appris auprès de la gendarmerie.

Plusieurs gendarmes spécialisés dans la négociation, figurent parmi eux, a-t-on précisé de même source.

Le preneur d'otages, arrivé au lycée vers 15H00, "traverse sans doute une crise dépressive", a estimé le directeur de cabinet de la préfecture.

"On savait qu'il déprimait, apparemment parce qu'il n'avait pas retrouvé de travail depuis qu'il a quitté le lycée il y a deux ans", a témoigné l'employée du lycée, Mme Mercier. "Mais on ne s'attendait absolument pas à un tel comportement", a-t-elle ajouté.

Situé à proximité du centre de Sablé-sur-Sarthe, au sud-ouest du Mans, l'établissement Colbert de Torcy comprend une section professionnelle et un lycée d'enseignement général.

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