Several extremely violent attacks have taken place in recent days, including one which cost the life of a 15-year-old teenager. Although these recent cases have stirred public opinion and agitated the political class, violence at school is nevertheless tending to decrease.
In the space of a week, three teenagers were violently attacked near their school. Samara, 13, was severely beaten by three minors on April 2, in front of his college, in Montpellier. The next day in Tours (Indre-et-Loire), a 14-year-old girl was beaten in an ambush organized behind his school, by classmates who filmed the scene. If the two young girls came out alive, Shemseddine15 years old, died of his injuries after being lynched on April 4, after leaving his college in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne).
Faced with these accumulating cases, the government has displayed its firmness. An interministerial plan must be announced in the coming weeks to combat violence at school, with several avenues, including the ban on cell phones and disciplinary advice from primary school. “It is our responsibility to do everything to reassure parents and teachers,” explains a close friend of the executive at franceinfo.
But behind these particularly brutal attacks, what do the figures say about the violence? — physical and verbal — in schools in recent years? Franceinfo looked at several studies on the subject to try to see more clearly.
“Serious incidents” up slightly
Within the Ministry of National Education, it is the Directorate of Evaluation, Foresight and Performance (Depp) which is responsible for collecting all the statistics on the school climate. Among them, the Sivis survey (School security information and vigilance system) records reports of “serious incidents” from school heads each year.
The latest results, published in February (in PDF)show a slight increase in incidents recorded for the year 2022-2023 compared to the previous year. On average, 13.7 “serious incidents” per 1,000 students were declared in middle and high schools in 2022-2023, compared to 12.3 the previous year. Vocational high schools have the highest rate (20.2 per 1,000), followed by colleges (15.8 per 1,000). Concerning public schools (nursery, elementary, primary), the number of reports reached 4.6 “serious incidents” per 1,000 students in 2022-2023, compared to 3 per 1,000 the previous year. A rate that has been rising constantly (even if very moderately) in recent years, since it was 2.8 in 2020-2021 and 2.4 in 2018-2019.
However, these statistics must be taken with a pinch of salt. “This is an increase in reports and not the facts themselves,” underlines Franck Martin, teacher-researcher in educational sciences at the National Higher Institute of Teaching and Education (Inspé) in Toulouse. “For two or three years, the ministry has strongly encouraged school heads and teachers to carry out these reports, because the government has been accused of sweeping dust under the carpet in the face of school violence”he tells franceinfo.
The researcher draws a parallel with the number of procedures for sexual assault or rape of a spouse, which has more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, in the midst of the #MeToo wave. This should not be seen as an increase in incidents, but rather as a strengthening of the fight against sexual violence, which results in an increase in reports.
High numbers at school, but to be qualified
The “serious incidents” recorded also cover very different events, which range from attacks on security (attack on secularism, carrying a bladed weapon, theft, consumption of alcohol or drugs, etc.) to physical violence. And it is verbal violence which represented the largest share of reports in 2022-2023 (43%, whether in public schools or in public and private middle and high schools), according to the Sivis survey. Physical violence constituted 40% of reports in public schools, but only 24% in middle and high schools, where security breaches are more reported than in establishments which welcome the youngest (18% compared to 7. 4%).
To have a more precise vision of the subject, it is necessary to look into national school climate and victimization surveyswhich complete the Sivis investigation. They occasionally question students and/or members of educational staff about possible attacks suffered in the school environment.
In primary school, only one victimization survey was carried out, among for CM1-CM2 students, and published in March 2022. It is therefore impossible to make a comparison with previous years. However, we can note that the feelings of schoolchildren are overwhelmingly positive: 92.4% of CM1-CM2 students say they feel “GOOD” Or “Alright” in their school. The most frequent psychological violence is insults or mockery (41.9%), ostracism (41.1%) and theft (40.2%). Physical attacks also affect schoolchildren, mainly through fights (36.5%), willful damage (33.1%) and shoving (32%).
This numbers “give the impression that there is a lot of violence in primary schools”, underlines sociologist Margot Déage, lecturer at Grenoble Alpes University, on France Culture. “What we see is that physical violence is much more numerous in primary school and then decreases in middle school and up to high school, because we gradually move on to verbal, psychological violence and sexual violence”analyzes the researcher.
Less physical violence at school
The surveys carried out among middle school students are undoubtedly more telling. The latest one was published in March 2023with a comparison between 2022 and 2017 which allows us to draw up this observation: physical and psychological violence in college is decreasing.
A little less than three in ten middle school students (28%) say they have been pushed around in 2022 (compared to 34% in 2017), 15% say they have been hit (they were 19% in 2017) and 15% say they found themselves in at least one collective fight (16% in 2017). Less than one in ten middle school students (9%) also report having been involved in dangerous games (11% in 2017) and 4% say they have been injured by a weapon or a dangerous object, a figure which is up very slightly compared to 2017 (3%).
Sexual violence, for its part, has barely changed in recent years: 6% of college students report having been victims of forced caresses (a stable figure compared to 2017) and 3% of forced kisses (5% in 2017). The survey highlights that 6th grade students and, to a lesser extent, 5th grade students, say they are victims of physical violence much more often than other students, particularly shoving. The study notes that they are also more regularly the target of multiple victimization, which can resemble harassment (insults, blows, denigration, rejection from other students).
In total, 91% of students feel safe inside the school, but this feeling decreases significantly around the establishment (75% of middle school students), particularly for girls (71%, or 8 points less than boys) and for 6th grade students (70% compared to 79% of 3rd grade students).
Cyberbullying is increasing
On the psychological side, the proportion of middle school students reporting being victims of insults during the school year is significantly decreasing compared to previous surveys. Half of middle school students were affected in 2017 (50%), a figure which will drop to only 43% in 2022.
Concerning high school students, the last victimization survey, dated 2018, established a comparison with 2015. These figures are undoubtedly too old to be representative of the current situation (a new study was carried out among high school students in 2023, still pending publication). However, we can point out that they hardly change from one year to the next. Pushing is cited by 9% of students and only 3% reported hitting. We note, on the other hand, an increase in victims of humiliating videos, photos or rumors on the internet (4% in 2015 compared to 9% in 2018).
Two other recent surveys (in 2022 and 2023) allow us to learn more about violence targeting educational staff. They were conducted by researchers Eric Debarbieux and Benjamin Moignard among national education personnel (teachers, but also psychologists, supporting students with disabilities, etc.) at primary and secondary levels. In nursery, elementary, middle and high school schools, the conclusion is the same: physical violence remains extremely rare.
Verbal violence against teachers
In middle and high school, the figures are even better than in the previous study, which dated from 2013: 98% of members of educational staff say they have never been hit while carrying out their duties during the year (compared to 95% in 2013). Concerning verbal violence, however, the figures are much more significant. Nearly half (40%) of middle and high school staff members report having been insulted (42% in 2013).
Despite a slight decline in the first and second degree, insults still remain very widespread. “They directly contribute to worsening the school climate between students and adults”underlines Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, national union of secondary school teachers. “Beyond the invectives, it is all the everyday incivility, the regular challenge to the authority of teachers, the insolence, which weigh enormously”, explains the trade unionist.
Sophie Vénétitay also cites the insults between the students. “They tell us: ‘That’s how we talk to each other.’ But we remind them that no, it’s not possible to communicate like that. They don’t always realize the scope of their language. “ “It is much more diffuse facts that pose a problem, insists Franck Martin, and not the most serious attacks, which, although well publicized, remain, fortunately, still extremely rare.”