“I have finally made the decision to leave my duties as principal this evening out of safety for myself and for the establishment.” The letter sent on March 22 by the principal of the Maurice-Ravel high school, located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, caused a real shock wave in the educational world and well beyond. On February 28, the head of the school reminded three young girls of the obligation to remove their veils on school grounds. The latter was then castigated on social networks. Since then, the complaint of one of the students against the principal whom she accused of violence has been dismissed for “insufficiently characterized offense”. Two individuals have been identified as being behind death threats and one of them will be tried on April 23 in Paris.
If the affair arouses so much emotion, it is because it recalls the terrible spiral which led to the assassination and beheading of Samuel Paty, also a victim of false accusations and of this infernal outburst on the Web where had circulated his name and that of the Bois-d’Aulne college where he worked… until the affair came under the eyes of Islamist terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov. How many teachers are victims today of “doxing”, practice of attacking one of them on social networks by revealing personal information? The phenomenon is difficult to quantify. According to a survey by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, released in 2021, 13% of teachers questioned say they have been the subject of insults or slanderous comments on the Internet from students or parents of students.
If all these attacks are not necessarily linked to secularism, the protests linked to the ban on wearing conspicuous religious symbols or to certain teachings are undoubtedly the most sensitive. The growing weight of platforms like TikTok or Snapchat is fueling the phenomenon and putting teachers under pressure. Because everyone has in mind the risk of seeing their reputation tarnished, or even being threatened with death for unproven or distorted facts. Even more so today, when the school of the Republic, whose mission is to train free and enlightened citizens, is targeted by Islamist militants. Aimed for what it is: a bulwark against obscurantism.