“Rather an alert for nothing than taking the risk of missing something” : this is the conviction of Elsa Tournay, school principal in Valenciennes. In twenty years of career, she has not ” never “ hesitate to do ” go back up “ a report or an “IP” – the acronym which, among childhood professionals, has replaced the heavy-handed expression “disturbing information”.
When she notes a “abrupt” attitude change, “outburst of violence” for example, or a “disturbing word” of a pupil, this union member at the SNUipp-FSU assumes her role: to transmit the information to the specialized cell of the department, which will seize the social services. Even refer to the public prosecutor in the event of suspicion of “imminent danger”. ” I am a little experienced in exercise, she says. I open the quotation marks, I confine myself to transcribe what I saw, what was reported to me, without ever falling into interpretation or commentary. The investigation is not my responsibility. »
Report suspected abuse (sexual or of another type) of a child: a legal obligation imposed on teachers, under article 40 of the code of criminal procedure, as “to any constituted authority, any public officer or civil servant”. This should also become so for doctors, recommended the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise) in its report released on March 31.
Low number of lifts
In the meantime, it is indeed the school that plays the role of “lookout” leading: it is estimated that 35,000 IPs and 10,000 reports are made each year in schools. The educational difficulties encountered by the parents are the first reason for alert (from 30% to 40%), ahead of that related to the behavior of a pupil. Sexual violence concerns only a small number of reports – around 2% to 7%. Evidence of under-reporting? If 160,000 children are victims each year of incest, as the Ciivise has quantified, then a certain number escapes collective vigilance.
The installation of the subject in the public debate, with the publication of the book The Big Family (Seuil, 2021), by Camille Kouchner, shone the spotlight on the role of educational teams (teachers, nurses, social workers and school doctors) who, around the students, must be able to identify, report, prevent and , ultimately, to protect. A responsibility reminded to interested parties by the Head of State, on January 23, 2021: in the midst of the surge of the hashtag #metooincest, Emmanuel Macron asked the educational community to allow the freedom of speech “grasping every sign”and promised the establishment of “two screening appointments” – one in primary school, the other in middle school – as part of the cycle of compulsory medical visits.
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