How security in schools is set to be increased across France after fatal stabbing attack

France’s Prime Minister, François Bayrou, says he wants to further increase security checks to “ban the carrying of bladed weapons in schools,” following a knife attack at a French school.

A 16-year-old stabbed four fellow students at lycée Notre-Dame de Toutes Aides in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) last Thursday (April, 24). One of the victims did not survive. 

The attack took place despite new school safety measures being announced in February, allowing police officers to randomly search students’ belongings. 

Roughly 1,000 searches have been conducted across 59,000 public and private establishments since the measure came into place at the end of March, according to the figures provided by Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. 

The slow implementation of these checks has been put down to a complicated organisational process. Search operations require advance coordination between public prosecutors, education authorities and prefectures.

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A bill is now being considered to permit national education officers, including teachers, to carry out random bag searches at school entrances and in the surrounding areas. Teaching staff can currently ask for bags to be opened and look inside, but they are not allowed to search through the contents. 

Bayrou also mentioned the possibility of installing airport-style security gates at school entrances. 

Security proposals are being drafted over the next four weeks, with a view to developing operational laws surrounding the sale, transportation and possession of bladed weapons. 

Criticism of security checks

The General Secretary of Syndicat National des Personnels de Direction de L'Éducation Nationale (SNPDEN), Bruno Bobkiewicz, told France Inter that “those who are raising the issue of security gates or systematic searches are making a mistake… If prisons cannot do it, I do not see how schools can”.

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In an interview with FranceInfo, Philippe Legrand, CGT trade union member and former teacher at the Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides said the issue stems from a lack of resources within education: “There is a shortage of health professionals, school nurses, school doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists.”

Showing Adolescence in schools?

The discussion surrounding knife crime has also increased since the success of British Netflix show Adolescence, released on March 13. The four-part fictional series tells the story of a 13-year-old boy accused of stabbing a fellow student. 

Laëtitia Curetti, who lives in the department of Rhône, has a 13-year-old son. She wrote to the French Minister of Education, Élisabeth Borne, and launched an online petition to have the series shown in secondary schools across France. 

Her petition gained over 17,800 signatures in just two weeks.

Ms Curetti believes the series could be an “excellent educational tool” to raise awareness of the dangers of social networking, sexism, bullying and violence in schools. 

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UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has already decided to make the series available to screen for free in British schools. Other countries, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, are also considering the idea.