Six months after the violence caused by the death of Nahel in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) and the call to order of the parents of rioters by the Minister of Justice, the government wants to go further. The Minister of Solidarity and Families, Aurore Bergé, announced in La Tribune Sundayon December 10, the establishment of “work of general interest for defaulting parents”. In her interview, the minister did not detail what she meant by “failing parents”nor what would these consist of “general interest work”.
As a general rule, community service (TIG) is a sentence to carry out free work for the benefit of the community, which can be imposed by a court for an offense punishable by a prison sentence of less than ten years or for a 5th class fine. In July, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, reminded prosecutors of the possibility of prosecuting the parents of the rioters under article 227-17 of the Penal Code: the father or mother who evades their legal obligations to the point of compromising the health, safety, morality or education of his minor child faces two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros.
Despite the vagueness surrounding it, the first reactions to the minister’s initiative are rather mixed. Overview.
Parenting commission chairs ‘not on this approach’
In his interview with La Tribune SundayAurore Bergé announced the creation of a commission which will make “concrete proposals” For “meeting the challenges of parenthood”. This body will be chaired by child psychiatrist Serge Hefez and Hélène Roques, founder of Notre Avenir pour tous, a structure specializing in youth issues.
Unfortunately for the minister, both distanced themselves from this measure on “failing parents”. “This would put these parents in a position vis-à-vis their children to be themselves – in quotes – delinquents”, underlined Hélène Roques on franceinfo. The members of this commission “are driven by the desire to support parenthoodshe explains. Our angle is prevention: acting in advance of crises in our society.”
“I don’t really know what bad parents are. Perhaps many of us recognize ourselves in the fact that we are not necessarily perfect parents.”
Hélène Roques, president of Our Future for Allon franceinfo
“We are going to move in the direction of support” of the “families in difficulty rather than in the sense of monitoring and punishing”, for his part affirmed Sunday on franceinfo Serge Hefez. These TIG for “failing parents” move away from his approach as a child psychiatrist, “unless we can extend this notion, perhaps, to information systems that help parents restore authority processes”. “I am used to being confronted with families who are in difficulty. (…) I was able to see that by doing work” near them, “we are very clearly able to improve the situation”, underlines the doctor, who practices at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris.
Members of this commission have already announced their resignation, at the first meeting organized on Monday. The sociologist specializing in parenting Claude Martin, the CNRS research director Agnès Martial and the family sociologist Irène Théry explained to the World to regret “that future work be placed under the aegis of repressive methods”.
The left denounces an “unworthy” and stigmatizing idea
Several left-wing figures also criticized this measure. “It is an outrageous idea, which aims to make parents feel guilty or responsible, the vast majority of whom want the best for their children.”particularly deplored Manuel Bompard, the political coordinator of La France insoumise, on France 2. For the MP, “we will strengthen the authority of parents when we also allow them to have acceptable living conditions (…), by allowing them to have a salary which allows them to live from their work, which also allows them to be a example for their children.
“We will always stigmatize the same thing, that is to say poor parents.”
Manuel Bompard, political coordinator of La France insoumiseon France 2
Even your criticism from the environmentalist MEP Marie Toussaint, for whom “the real problem is the poverty of a certain number of families.” “When we see that poverty is exploding, what we must do is not penalize and repress parents even more, but come to their aid, to their support”she argued at the microphone of Sud Radio.
“Moms” will be the first victims of this measure, deplores the collective Les Gilets roses
Fatimata Sy, founder of the mothers’ collective Les Gilets roses, criticized these announcements. “The dads, you are not going to find them: it is the mothers that you are going to condemnshe regretted on BFMTV. And if you condemn a mother, young people won’t like it. How are you [davantage] make the situation worse than anything else.”
On this point, Aurore Bergé recalled that “60%” of the “minor rioters” had “grew up in a single-parent family”. The minister acknowledged that “society has ended up accepting the fact that women take on certain tasks with children alone.” “Fathers can’t just be about child support,” supported the minister in The Tribune on Sunday.
The right welcomes “an additional range of measures”
Renaud Muselier, president Les Républicains (LR) of the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, for his part welcomed the “good idea” from Minister Aurore Bergé. “Everyone must take their share of responsibility. The first job that must be done is to penalize [les parents] who don’t care [des enfants] when the family system works”, he explained on the set of RTL’s “Grand Jury”. Renaud Muselier, however, insisted on the need of“helping single mothers”.
“You have single mothers who are suffering and you have failing parents. It’s not quite the same thing.”
Renaud Muselier, LR president of the Paca regional councilon the stage of the “Grand Jury”
In Asnières (Hauts-de-Seine), Aurore Bergé’s plan for “failing parents” is rather favorably received. The mayor LR, Manuel Aeschlimann, estimates from franceinfo that the initiative would allow “to find yet another range of measures to try to resolve these issues of parental authority.” As proof, the elected official takes the example of water bills sent by the town hall after the destruction of fire hydrants: “Not only did the families concerned have to deal with this little by little, but above all, it resonated in all the neighborhoods concerned, and we never had this kind of problem again.”
“Particularly timid” announcements, denounces the National Rally
Edwige Diaz, deputy of the National Rally, for her part considered insufficient Aurore Bergé’s announcements. “We are delighted that the government is finally realizing that there is a form of unbearable judicial laxity in our country,” but “these are particularly timid announcements”castigated the elected official, Sunday at the microphone of Franceinfo.