Degrading or Reasonable Policing

Some folk are up in arms… seeing youngster, on their knees, facing the wall with their hands either on their heads or behind their backs.

Frankly, having seen gangs of youngsters on the rampage… in the past… I am impressed that these were subdued and brought under control without injury or mistreatment.

“Ces images sont impressionnantes mais aucun jeune n’a été blessé, ni maltraité , nous n’avons enregistré aucune plainte”, a réagit le préfet des Yvelines, Jean-Jacques Brot."

“Comment 70 policiers maintiennent-ils au calme 150 jeunes ? Il leur fallait bien trouver des moyens pour les faire tenir tranquilles. Je ne connais pas d’autres méthodes” a de son côté indiqué Thierry Laurent, le directeur de cabinet du préfet, également présent sur place."

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If kids are allowed to get away with violent protest there is no hope for the future.

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The youngsters have seen films of the protestors and think that it’s ok to act the same by throwing missiles at the police.

It’s not ok to act like this, either as adults or youngsters. I have taken part in a few protests in France and they were never like this.

We never covered our faces, if you believe in something then you shouldn’t need to hide behind 'a mask/cover.

Sadly the hooligans have turned out in force and taken over, their sole aim is to create fear, panic and of course to destroy as much property as possible.

I will be staying at home tomorrow, I hope those of you who live in or near large cities, troublespots, stay safe.

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I was going to the big Leroy Merlin in Limoges tomorrow, but it’s going to have to wait until Monday methinks.

I would steer (no pun) well away from Limoges this weekend Mark. Don’t forget also that from Sunday the lorry drivers will be blocking/going slow on some routes. Already the A20 around Limoges can be hell at times !

Thanks Ann, I do normally use the A20 just to get around Limoges from the south to the ring road (airport road), but can (and probably will) go another, non A20 way.

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I’ve just received a message SMS from LeClerc… saying they are open on Sunday… :thinking:

I wish them well, but have no intention of trying to get to them… will spend the time nearer to home and sanity… :hugs:

Just seen an update on the situation…the lorry drivers strike/go slow has been annuled :slight_smile:

Spot of looting Mark?

When you are young you think you are invincible and going around in gangs covered up so that it is difficult to identify individuals increases that sense of invincibility.
They need to learn the hard truth that society will not accept such behaviour and that there are consequences.

Haha, there’s an idea -but might get noticed as i need a shower cubicle. It can wait until next week though.
Mind you, it’s chucking it down here at the moment, might put a dampener on things…

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We drove to Toulon last week in the rain assuming they’d be all be cuddled up at home but they’re more intrepid that that in out neck of the woods. They were standing around braziers at the autoroute entrances roasting their chestnuts.

“the hard truth that society will not accept such behaviour and that there are consequences.”
“If kids are allowed to get away with violent protest there is no hope for the future.”

…just a couple of the comments made above…

It brings to mind an interesting conundrum: many (not all, but it’s a constant rhetorical feature…) of those calling for a second referendum in the United Kingdom do so on the grounds that ‘the young’ have had their futures ‘betrayed’. With these comments, the other side of this rhetorical coin appears to be being played. ‘The kids’, who are the future, should not be allowed their say. That they feel that the only way to have their voices heard is partly through violence is less of a comment on the ‘kids’ themselves and as much on the societies that marginalise their voices. As a teacher, I am also committed to ‘young people’ and their futures, and I think I have a right to comment on their chosen means of expression, but it is certainly not within my remit to close down avenues of expression, violent or otherwise. On what grounds, when most of the founding philosophical tenets of modern Liberal societies (the 1789 Declaration includes it…) reserve for their populations the right of organised retaliation against the state.

My own first taste of political action came in the UK Miner’s Strike in the 1980’s, and it involved violence at points, which I was involved in, at Orgreave, inter alia. Some years ago I lived in Athens during the main ‘troika’ protests, and then in Milan during the time of the EXPO. On all three occasions, ‘young people’ were involved, and engaged in violence, side-by-side with adults. The default critique of violence as a way to either air a grievance or as a legitimate political tool is not something I have ever been persuaded of, especially since we currently live in a Republic founded on that very act.

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Predictable I suppose, but a great shame

Shouldn’t they be teaching kids that actions have consequences, and you can’t go through life playing the victim every time those consequences bite you in the bum?

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Well I’d say they didn’t expect that. Is this all over the Bac reforms? The kids need to be careful, I remember a senior manager colleague of mine back in 1981 telling me that the company we worked for in Grenoble had a policy of doing background checks on candidates before final job offers to see if they had been naughty in '68. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Too darned right.

I’m sorry to say this, but I wouldn’t have wanted you teaching my children.

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No need for apologies; horses for courses and all of that. Thankfully, you probably wouldn’t have had a choice, and you clearly forget that teachers in most Western European democracies are charged with keeping their ‘politics’ out of the classroom. But I wonder what it was that irked you in what I wrote that lead you to such a conclusion. You clearly didn’t want your children learning about History.

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Hi Jane, i fully agree with your comments, apart from the fact the consequences given out today dont scare the thugs anymore.

It took me 2.25 hours to get around Limoges yesterday. Had some pretty interesting conversations with the locals protesting. I have no ill feelings even though my schedule was shot to the universe.