‘The threat from violent extremism remains’
Just days after Hamas’s attack against Israel, at a time when tensions between communities were simmering in many countries in Europe, including France, a radicalised former pupil stabbed to death Dominique Bernard, a French literature teacher, during a jihadist attack in his high school in the north of France. On 13th October 2023, almost three years to the day after the assassination of Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, a French school suffered from an act of Islamist terrorism once again, sending a shockwave through the whole educational community.
Teachers are on the front line. Each person reacts differently to a tragedy. Some manage to deal with it; others may need help to overcome their anxiety and trauma, even more so when they can identify with the victim. Dominique Bernard was a teacher; he was at school on this Friday morning, like thousands of teachers in France, an ordinary working day.
Immediately after the attack, the French Ministry of National Education and Youth set up a national psychological helpline. Everybody who felt the need could call and get help and support from a team of psychologists twenty-four hours a day, every day of the week. The helpline is still operational for those who need it.
The attack took place late morning on a Friday; most teachers in France started hearing about it in the afternoon. Some had finished working and were on their weekend; some were still teaching in their school. It soon became clear that it was necessary for each school community to have time on Monday, before the arrival of the pupils, before resuming classes, to gather, to share their grief and put words to the unspeakable.
It was even more necessary as Monday was the day dedicated to pay tribute to Samuel Paty. The minister thus decided to cancel classes from eight to ten on Monday morning. During those two hours, the director, teachers, medical and social staff gathered in each school, trying to find words and preparing for the arrival of the pupils and the minute of silence scheduled for 2 p.m. to both Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard.
All school inspectors and academic teams specialised in “laïcité” and in the values of the Republic were mobilised in secondary schools to help directors and teachers, as regards the organisation and the content of courses with pupils. All administrative meetings were also cancelled during this week to give more time to teachers if they needed to gather again.
The ministry put lots of resources and advice on its website to help teachers to welcome their pupils who might have seen traumatic images on television, to answer their questions, to deal with their reactions: to reassure them, to pay attention to what they knew or understood of the event, to detect biased information or fake news, to respect each pupil’s sensitivity or feelings of incomprehension, fear, anger or injustice.
These resources could also be used in long-term educational work, to lead debates, to work on fake news, on the founding principles of the Republic, of life in society, of human rights, to decode media and information, to develop critical thinking.
School staff also anticipated possible difficulties with some pupils who could legitimatise violent actions or make unacceptable comments. Such speech or behaviour could constitute criminal offenses. The August 2021 law reinforcing respect for the principles of the Republic created new criminal offenses aiming at protecting teachers, such as article 10 (to punish teaching hindering) or article 36 (to protect teachers’ identity).
According to the cases and in connection with the reference for the prevention of radicalisation of each academy (regional education authority), those pupils were reported to the specific P/CVE units in each prefecture that were created in 2014. These units are implemented in each department in France. They bring together prosecutors, police, education representatives, social and medical services, associations, and ensure follow-up, working with both the young persons and their family.
The assassination of Dominique Bernard occurred three years after Samuel Paty’s and took place in a tense international context. While it is hard to draw direct links between events in Gaza and the attack in northern France, the attack demonstrated that such threats remain, and both events have the potential to inspire more acts of violence.
What I saw in the aftermath of the attack, was that the overwhelming majority of teachers and directors showed great resilience. The support, organisation, resources and instructions deployed by the Ministry of National Education and Youth – in close collaboration with both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice – was both reassuring and very important to every education professional.
It is a national commitment to tackle all forms of violent extremism and schools are at the core of this effort because of their work to address polarising narratives and hate speech, enabling children to emancipate themselves from determinism.