Call for action on dangerous games

CAMPAIGNERS have renewed calls to tackle dangerous playground games after two children were hospitalised in separate incidents.

Education Minister Xavier Darcos also called for action after the incidents in Le Havre and Seine-Saint-Denis.

The ministry has released a booklet entitled Jeux dangereux et pratiques violentes : prévenir, intervenir, agir instructing schools on how to prevent such games.

According to a TNS-Sofres study, 12% of people aged 7 - 17 have taken part in “dangerous games” - like petit pont massacreur, where an object is thrown between a person’s legs and if they fail to catch it they are beaten up; or strangling each other with scarves.

According to the Association de Parents d'Enfants Accidentés par Strangulation around ten children a year die in such “games,” usually outside school.

Another group campaigning to stop such games is SOS Benjamin. A statement by the group said they had been campaigning for the education ministry to take such action for more than eight years.