Nothing in this trip was left to chance. Neither the city, recently marked by the death of Shemseddine, 15, beaten near his college, nor the theme of his speech, on “authority at the heart of the Republic”.
For his hundredth day in Matignon, accompanied by Ministers Nicole Belloubet (Education) and Éric Dupond-Moretti (Justice), Minister Delegate Sarah El Haïry (Childhood, Youth, Families) and Secretary of State Sabrina Agresti-Roubache ( City and Citizenship), Gabriel Attal gave a long speech this Thursday at 11 a.m. in front of the town hall of Viry-Châtillon (Essonne).
Towards a “surge of authority”
The tenant of Matignon first tried to explain the violence which affects some of the adolescents. For him, parents have a role to play and a responsibility. The Prime Minister notably cited the role of social networks, “ideological entryism”, a withdrawal of oneself, but also “the weakness of our past responses” which suggest a failure of authority.
He also deplored the “addiction of some of our adolescents to violence”, consequently calling for “a real burst of authority” to “reverse this form of spiral of the weakening of authority”.
“There are twice as many adolescents involved in assault and battery, four times more in drug trafficking, and seven times more in armed robberies than in the general population,” listed the Prime Minister.
“Empowering resigning parents”
Gabriel Attal wants to focus on education to prevent young people from “falling into delinquency”. He promises to help parents, particularly single mothers, and to “empower resigning parents,” including parents who have left the home, by asking them to participate jointly in repairing the damage caused by their child.
He mentions the establishment of community service for parents who evade their parental obligations. If they have not encouraged their child to attend a court summons, they could also be fined.
Boarding schools, to take “evil at the root”
Another announcement: the Prime Minister wants to force students to be present at school between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., “particularly in priority neighborhoods”. He also wants to take advantage of the work done in recent weeks on boarding schools, where he wants young people to be sent in the event of deviation, “against the spiral of delinquency”
“Eight weeks” to bring the “collective work” to fruition
Gabriel Attal leaves the government eight weeks to carry out collective work, in order to find a “surge of authority”. A progress update will take place in four weeks. “Everyone will be brought around the table to conduct scientific, political and technical work,” proclaimed the Prime Minister.
Measures “in classes”
The latter also underlines the role of education in the fight against delinquency. From a security point of view, he says he wants to “protect schools and their surroundings”. But he also judges that “the battle for authority is won in the classes”. However, “to be respected, a rule must be understood,” assures the Prime Minister.
Disruptors “sanctioned” in obtaining their diplomas
He therefore calls for the implementation of common sense measures at the next school year: “Get up when a teacher enters the class, get students involved in common tasks from an early age”, in particular. Gabriel Attal also proposes a measure that the consultation initiated will look into: having a note entered in the files of disruptive students.
Clearly, disruptive students will be “sanctioned” in obtaining their diplomas, announced Gabriel Attal, with a mention of “troublemaker” entered in the Parcoursup file of the students involved.
A plan to combat drugs
“Fighting against the drift of a part of our youth is fighting against drugs”, affirms Gabriel Attal who promises a new plan to fight against narcotics, referring to the “XXL net square” plans, in progress since the month of March in France.
Immediate appearances and educational work
Gabriel Attal also suggests “that young people who go adrift attend an immediate appearance” to understand the rules. He also announces that the circular on educational work measures, the equivalent of work of general interest for minors under 15 years old, will be signed in the coming days for entry into force after the spring holidays.
It will also now be possible to require night care for certain minors in educational placement establishments.
A specific penal composition measure
Gabriel Attal announced the creation of a “penal composition measure” intended to enable minors over the age of 13 to plead guilty. Clearly, “for certain offenses, if a young person recognizes the facts and accepts the sanction, it will now be possible to implement it without waiting for a trial,” specifies those around him.
He also said he was open to the possibility of an evolution of the minority excuse, as well as to a reflection on a potential immediate appearance for minors aged 16.
For monitoring young people registered on social networks
The Prime Minister also spoke out in favor of “real and effective” control of the age of young people registered on social networks, returning to his desire to establish a digital majority set at 15 years.
Justice and education
This speech was an opportunity for the former Minister of Education to continue on a subject already highlighted in his general policy declaration. On January 30, in front of the National Assembly, he then returned to the urban riots of rare violence which had set cities and neighborhoods ablaze at the beginning of the summer of 2023. And had pronounced a sentence that remained in the memories, that he repeated this Thursday: “you break, you repair, you dirty, you clean, you challenge authority, we teach you to respect it”.
Before giving his speech this Thursday, the Prime Minister spoke with the teams and beneficiaries of the MJC de Viry, according to Matignon. “We have had a terrible tragedy here, we are seeing a form of unbridled violence,” he declared to several teenagers he met upon his arrival on site.
On Wednesday, in the Council of Ministers, Emmanuel Macron asked his government to engage in consultation to find solutions to the “emergence of ultra-violence”, particularly among the youngest. It is up to the Prime Minister to start discussions with parliamentary groups and various stakeholders, with the aim of arriving at a bill before the summer.
Gabriel Attal's 100th day at Matignon will end with a long interview given to BFMTV, in which he should recall his method: demonstrate "lucidity" and even "recognize" what has worked or not since 2017 then "make decisions » potentially “difficult and radical” and “above all, implement them”.