France eyes social media ban for under-15s after school stabbing

French authorities person announced plans to prohibition societal media for under-15s and the merchantability of knives to minors aft the execution of a teaching adjunct by a 14-year-old lad plunged the state into shock.

A secondary schoolhouse pupil was arrested connected Tuesday (June 10, 2025) aft sidesplitting a 31-year-old schoolhouse adjunct with a weapon during a container hunt successful Nogent successful eastbound France.

Friends and well-wishers near flowers and messages of enactment successful beforehand of the secondary schoolhouse struck by the tragedy. "We stock your pain," work 1 message.

Laurence Raclot, who knew the teaching assistant, Melanie, said she was "stunned". "She was large with kids," Ms. Raclot said. "In a quiescent small town, we ne'er would person thought this could happen."

A erstwhile hairdresser, Melanie had retrained and worked astatine the schoolhouse since September. She was the parent of a four-year-old lad and a councillor successful a colony adjacent Nogent. "There are nary words," added different local, Sabrina Renault. "It's truly bittersweet for her full family, for that small lad who's near without his mum."

Pupils and parents were seen entering and leaving the school, wherever a intelligence enactment portion has been acceptable up.

The fishy volition stay successful constabulary custody for a further 24 hours, until Thursday (June 12, 2025) morning, a constabulary root told AFP connected Wednesday (June 11, 2025). Little accusation has been released astir his motive.

'Cannot wait'

In the aftermath of the attack, authorities promised a raft of measures to tackle weapon transgression among children.

"I americium proposing banning societal media for children nether 15," President Emmanuel Macron said connected X connected Tuesday (June 10, 2025) evening. "Platforms person the quality to verify age. Let's bash it," helium added.

Backed by France and Spain, Greece has spearheaded a connection for however the EU should bounds children's usage of online platforms arsenic grounds shows that societal media tin person antagonistic effects connected children's intelligence and carnal health.

Mr. Macron said connected Tuesday (June 10, 2025) that if nary advancement was made wrong respective months, past France would spell up with the prohibition unilaterally. "We cannot wait," helium told broadcaster France 2.

France has successful caller years seen respective attacks connected teachers and pupils by different schoolchildren. In March, constabulary started random searches for knives and different weapons concealed successful bags astatine and astir schools.

On Wednesday (June 11, 2025), Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's bureau said a prohibition connected the merchantability of knives to minors volition beryllium implemented by a decree issued wrong the adjacent 2 weeks.

Speaking to broadcaster TF1 connected Tuesday (June 10, 2025) evening, Mr. Bayrou said that the measurement would travel into unit “immediately”. “The database volition see ‘any weapon that tin beryllium utilized arsenic a weapon’, helium said.

He besides said parents and educators should beryllium watching for "signs that a teen is not doing well", portion acknowledging that determination was a shortage of psychologists.

Mr. Bayrou has besides called for a proceedings of metallic detectors successful schools.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a minute's soundlessness to beryllium held successful each French schools astatine midday connected Thursday to honour the representation of the teaching assistant.

"The full acquisition assemblage is successful shock, arsenic is the full nation," she told France Inter radio connected Wednesday (June 11, 2025).

Ms. Borne said she was "open to anything" to amended safety, but added that ceramic blades would beryllium invisible to metallic detectors.

She besides said that young radical should beryllium protected from "overexposure to screens".

But commercialized unions said they were not definite however these proposals would beryllium implemented and enforced.

"Teaching assistants person chiefly acquisition duties wrong the schoolhouse environment," said Sophie Venetitay, wide caput of the SNES-FSU teachers' union.

But, she added, "little by little, we person seen attempts to crook them into information guards."

Remy Reynaud of the CGT Educ'action national criticised the government's determination to present container searches extracurricular schools. "They summation tensions," helium said.

"School absorption is pressuring teaching assistants to enactment successful the searches, which is not portion of their duties," she added.

Published - June 11, 2025 11:58 p.m. IST