Paris: training for after-school agents to address questions about physical contact

At the Télégraphe nursery school, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, around fifteen agents are gathered around a table. At the center, the after-school director asks a question: “It’s back to school for Matis, he has just arrived at canteen time, he is crying, he absolutely wants to come into your arms. What is your reaction?”

The situation seems banal. However, the responses show that professionals are increasingly questioning the actions they can take with children. "I've been doing this job for 20 years, but with everything that's happening now we're asking ourselves a lot of questions, we no longer know if we have the right to hug. We don't know what we have the right to do. This calls into question our job," explains Maria, after-school agent.

“We must always anticipate these situations”

Another agent believes that we must first try to understand the reason for the crying: “First of all, that is not the answer that we should give, the hug, it is asking him why he is crying.” But for some professionals, physical contact is sometimes still necessary. “You try through dialogue, but sometimes it’s too hard, they want to shake hands, give a hug, and I think it’s still essential to do that,” said an agent.

The training aims precisely to give the teams a common framework. The recommendations presented to agents are to never push a child away, but to look for alternatives: ask them questions, read or sing with them, or simply stay by their side. If a leader hugs a child, he must inform his superiors. “We must always anticipate these situations,” explains the after-school director.

These training courses are part of a 20 million euro plan set up by Paris town hall to fight against sexual violence. Six educational days per year must now be offered to all extracurricular agents, in particular facilitators, ASEMs and RASEMs.

Measures that raise questions

In this school in the 20th arrondissement, other measures were put in place this summer. Among them, the ban on men from accessing the dormitory.

Gabriel, 18, started working at the establishment in June. He was not allowed to enter the dormitory. "That means that all men are a little dangerous, but in a way that's also all we can do at the moment. With all the cases there are, it's also normal to put such devices on."

A measure that divides professionals. Alice, 25, who has been a facilitator for eight years, believes on the contrary "that this goes too far, that it is a form of discrimination. It is extremely burdensome. We have the impression that the slightest act and gesture will be blamed on us. The fact that there is training will never be too much," especially since all the facilitators are not yet trained.

For those responsible, the challenge is to find a balance between protecting children and supporting professionals. “We have people who arrived with a little experience in babysitting or after having made a career entirely elsewhere and who, with 3 children, change careers and turn to animation. So, yes, we need common procedures, we absolutely need a common base,” explains Sandrine Bobin, director of extracurriculars in this school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.

To strengthen this training, an “extracurricular school” must be inaugurated next week in Paris.