"They skipped classes to schedule the fight and called on the greats of their city."
Aminata
(the first name has been changed)
tells how, on September 15, her son and his friends were hit with several sticks on the head on returning from Jean-Lurçat college in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) .
Two students of 3rd from the city of Romain-Rolland were said to have been at the origin of the violence against their comrades in the Joliot-Curie district.
The mother did not file a complaint.
“I prefer to change establishment.
I decided to give up.
Complaining would only make matters worse.
"
Fear of reprisals
Other parents made the same choice.
The fear of reprisals is one of the reasons.
The issue of perpetrator impunity is another.
Aminata says that her son, then in 6th grade, had been kidnapped in his neighborhood by a gang and locked in the trunk of a car.
He had been released a few kilometers further on, Porte de la Chapelle.
The family then filed a complaint.
“But no one was arrested,” says the mother.
READ ALSO>
Weaponization of the municipal police, cameras…: Saint-Denis puts the package on security
Estelle
(the first name has been changed),
whose 14-year-old son was also a victim of the ambush of September 15, she decided to take the plunge, alone.
Until now, she was part of this silent majority.
Two years ago, her child had already been assaulted.
She had kept quiet.
“We tried to find a solution with the college, but I was told:
it takes place outside the establishment.
"
The last attack was the last straw.
"It is no longer liveable," she exclaims.
Since the incident, she has kept her children at home.
She too moves heaven and earth to change their establishment.
“You never know where it starts.
Drug stories, jealousy? "
The Jean-Lurçat college, unwillingly, finds itself at the heart of a rivalry between two cities: Romain-Rolland and Joliot-Curie.
Children from both neighborhoods invariably attend school there.
And the blows go off for no reason.
“You never know where it starts.
Is it drug stories, jealousy?
»She asks herself.
The pupils being raced in the street had to take refuge in the Delafontaine hospital and at the reception of the Joliot-Curie leisure center.
“We don't know where it started.
It is enough that we are not from their city, ”observes Estelle who lives in isolation in her neighborhood.
“My son is just going out into the neighborhood to buy a baguette,” she adds.
READ ALSO>
War of the cities: two teenagers attack another with a knife in front of a high school in Vitry
Faced with this situation, which is not new, the rectorate indicates having "sent the mobile security teams as soon as the alert issued by the head of the establishment.
They will also support it in setting up a school violence prevention plan ”.
Discipline tips to come
Disciplinary measures are also in order.
Two students of 3rd must spend next week in disciplinary council.
They would be involved in the fight.
The National Education also repeats that these events did not take place in the college.
“The fight had started within the college itself.
It's wrong to say that it always happens outside, ”annoys this mother of a student.
Seine-Saint-Denis newsletter
Every morning, the news of your department seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
For its part, the city of Saint-Denis has just created five mediator positions.
“One of them will be based in the Jean-Lurçat college.
He will work in consultation with the education advisor and social workers.
Its role will be to appease conflicts ”, indicates Gwenaëlle Badufle, assistant for youth and secondary education.
Nino no longer goes to school for fear of being attacked again
It has now been eleven days since Nino
(the first name has been changed)
, 14 years old, has not set foot at Lurçat college.
Assaulted on September 15 when he returned from school, he remained holed up at home.
“I was with a friend.
We saw three people in hiding, then about 20 coming with sticks.
"
Nino was not hit but was tripped up.
Since then, it's no longer a question of taking risks.
“I don't want to go back to college anymore, because even in college they beat us,” says the sad teenager.
Especially since it was already taken to task two years ago: "Two grown-ups hit me for no reason," he says.
His only fault according to him: living in the city of Joliot-Curie in eternal rivalry with Romain-Rolland.
“My son doesn't even hang out with the neighborhood kids,” says his mother, who prefers to keep him locked up at home.
The new mobile security team could have reassured Nino.
He shakes his head.
The attackers were waiting for them, hidden behind a building.
"They go around the hospital so as not to be seen," said the young boy.
Confined at home, Nino tries to "catch up on homework and some lessons on the college site".
But he cannot benefit from correspondence courses.
He is now waiting for a new school.
He doesn't believe student exclusions will change much.
"If they are excluded, they will wait for us in front", the teenager laments.
Gang war: Ousmane changed high school because of rivalries
