By Geoffrey Latayan
France has initiated plans to prohibit social media for people under the age of 15 following the murder of a teaching assistant by a 14-year-old boy.
The authorities are also planning a ban on the sale of knives to minors.
Macron announces plan on X
French President Emmanuel Macron led the initiative via a post on X (formerly Twitter) and authorities promised a raft of measures to tackle knife crime among children.
“I am proposing banning social media for children under 15,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X. “Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let’s do it,” he added.
Macron warned that if no progress was made within several months, France would push the ban unilaterally.
France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren.
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Tragic stabbing triggered French initiative
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s office said a ban on the sale of knives to minors will be implemented by a decree issued within the next two weeks.
Bayrou told French broadcaster TF1 that the measure would come into force immediately. The list will include “any knife that can be used as a weapon,” he said.
The prime minister also urged parents and educators to be watching for “signs that a teenager is not doing well,” while acknowledging that there was a shortage of psychologists. He has also called for a trial of metal detectors in schools.
The secondary school pupil was arrested on Tuesday after killing a 31-year-old school assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France.
Friends and well-wishers left flowers and messages of support in front of the secondary school struck by the tragedy.
The authorities said the suspect will remain in police custody for a further 24 hours, until Thursday morning. Little information has been released about his motive.
Education Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a minute’s silence to be held in all French schools at midday on Thursday to honour the memory of the teaching assistant.
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