Parents' complaint, investigation opened, experienced teacher… What we know after the violence against a 3-year-old child at school

Sur la vidéo, on voit nettement l'institutrice frapper la fillette de 3 ans. Capture d'écran V

Since Monday, a video showing a teacher hitting a crying 3-year-old girl in a Paris school has sparked strong indignation, even among the Minister of National Education. An investigation has been opened.

A preliminary investigation has been opened following a complaint filed by the parents of a 3-year-old girl, assaulted by her teacher according to images that have sparked a wave of indignation, with the Minister of National Education speaking on Tuesday of “shame for our school”. On Monday, a video showing a teacher violently hitting a crying little girl in the back at a nursery school in the 15th arrondissement of Paris circulated on social media.

Une Maîtresse violente une petite fille de petite section et lui asperge un liquide sur la tête dans une école du 15 ème arrondissement de Paris. Une plainte a été déposée. En tant qu’avocate je mènerai ce combat main dans la main avec la famille, en tant que maman mon cœur… pic.twitter.com/5LQ6O6XP5f

— Vanessa EDBERG (@EdbergVanessa) September 9, 2024

The scene filmed dates back to September 5, and other incidents, dating from the 3rd, the day after the start of the school year, are also denounced, according to the lawyer for the child's family, Vanessa Edberg. According to her, the images were recorded by a mother of a student present in the class.

The minister "extremely shocked"

Saying to journalists "extremely shocked"Tuesday, the resigning Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet, announced Monday evening on X that she had requested “immediately the launch of disciplinary proceedings, with an immediate suspension of the teacher“.

Me Edberg confirmed to AFP that she had filed a complaint on September 5 to denounce violence aggravated by three circumstances: on a vulnerable person, in an educational establishment and perpetrated by a person carrying out a public service mission. This complaint led to the opening of a preliminary investigation, according to the Nanterre prosecutor's office, which should relinquish jurisdiction in favor of the Paris prosecutor's office, which has territorial jurisdiction.

Filmed by another mother

According to Mr. Edberg, the 3-year-old girl was starting her first year of kindergarten and had previously told her mother about "blows" from the teacher. "The video was filmed while there was another mother, we can tell that the teacher is holding back", the lawyer said.

"The girl has already seen a doctor, and will see one again to assess her ITT. The first doctor assessed her psychological harm as severe, because the little girl does not look others in the eye or face to face and refuses to talk about the teacher", according to Mr. Edberg.

The teacher apologized

The rector of the Paris academy, Bernard Beignier, spent part of the morning on Tuesday at the Frères-Voisin school located in the southwest of Paris, in order to talk with the teachers. He assured during a press briefing that he was taking “things very seriously” in this case that he considers “inadmissible”.

“I signed this (Tuesday) morning the suspension order for this teacher, which is not a sanction but a protective measure and then there will be both a criminal investigation since a complaint has been filed and an administrative investigation that could very certainly lead to a disciplinary board, or even sanctions ranging from reprimand to revocation", the rector specified. Bernard Beignier indicated that since the events, this teacher "has been on sick leave and has been replaced in her class". She will be "summoned in the coming days to be heard". The teacher, “admitted the facts and apologized to the girl's family”, according to the rector.

“Not a professional gesture”

For Guislaine David, general secretary of FSU-Snuipp, the main union for primary education (nursery and elementary school), “the images show a shocking situation, it is not a professional gesture”. “As teachers, we must ensure the physical and emotional safety of students”, she insisted.

“This is completely unsustainable, this behavior is unspeakable, coming from a confirmed teacher, who had already been in this school for ten years”, said Philippe Goujon, LR mayor of the 15th arrondissement of Paris, interviewed on BFMTV. This teacher “knows the school, the parents, the students well, and she is a teacher in her fifties", “who does not normally let herself be carried away by her emotions", he continued.

On July 4, a middle school teacher from Moselle was sentenced to three months of suspended sentence for violence against a student, a sentence accompanied by a ban on exercising any activity in contact with minors for two years.