Behaviour

[Dianes]

I am a junior school supply teacher in England, and I've just had a bad day. I was wondering how the behaviour compares in French schools. I feel the behaviour in the 5-6 schools that I teach in has deteriorated significantly over the past 10 years, and that's in a nice, semi-rural, quite well-to-do area. My colleagues agree with me. Whereas before you might get one problem child in a class, now there are whole groups of them, and even the 'nice' children have their moments!
What are the children like in French schools. Is that another thing that is better over there?

Diane

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

I suspect it may be better... but everyone here (24) is in agreement that it is deteriorating rapidly.

[Val_2]

Primary schools in France may have better behaved pupils, after all, most will have been going there via the maternelle since two years old and know everyone well, but collge and Lyce are a different kettle of fish with children converging from many villages and do have their fair share of badly behaved pupils. When my son was in quatrime, one pupil was already on the road to alcoholismn and actually got so drunk with vodka in a water bottle at school he threw his dinner over the teacher's table and threw up over the principal. My son has had a couple of boys all through collge taunt him with racist remarks about the english and now they are all at Lyce one of these boys has actually tried to make friends,but my son dosn't want to know because the other is continually in trouble and takes drugs.Another couple were caught having sex in the toilets and there have been a couple of pregnancies. I think some of the types of bad behaviour in France is not so serious as the UK where you see teachers actually getting abused or attacked, more pranks here really because it is the parents who answer here if a complaint is made to the gendarmerie and the parents have to pay for any damages and face the principal themselves. Teachers in France are also not above slapping a child if provoked enough, I know as I have seen it happen and fully supported the adult in question.

[Ellen7]

I think behaviour started to deteriorate in Britain earlier than in France, but France is doing its best to catch up. I'm a collge teacher in France and when I started 11 years ago, there was still this feeling that EDUCATION was important and you had to repect "le professeur". You had a couple of "trouble makers" per class, but even they were afraid of the headteacher or the threat that you might call their parents. That's not so true anymore. I started in a ZEP and expected problems, but in fact I probably have as many "problem pupils" now in a "collge de centre ville "as I did then, if not more.

Ellen