Over Half of French Teachers Censor Themselves to Avoid Religious Backlash

Pupils sit in a classroom on the first day of the new academic year in a Lyon highschool,
JEFF PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Over half of French teachers practice self-censorship when discussing issues of secularism, according to a newly released poll, in order to avoid possible religious backlash and protests.

The poll, taken by the French firm Ifop, revealed that 52 per cent of teachers in France practice some form of self-censorship on the topic of secularism as France celebrated the anniversary of 1905 secularism laws on Friday, December 9th.

According to the results of the survey, teachers self-censor due to the possible backlash from pupils and avoid topics that could degenerate into arguments or even protests as religious protests have risen in number since 2020, CNews reports.

The result of the survey comes just two years after the murder of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded in the street in the suburbs of Paris by a Chechen radical Islamic refugee in October 2020.

Paty’s murder came after a discussion on the issue of free expression in his classroom which involved the display of cartoons of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

It was later revealed that the pupil who first complained about Paty to her father, who subsequently led a social media campaign against Paty and communicated with his killer, had lied about being present in the class.

In 2004, France passed a specific secularism law ins schools, and 71 per cent of teachers say they have had to deal with confronting pupils on the ban on visible religious symbols, such as the Islamic veil.

In schools in so-called “priority zones”, often in disadvantaged areas, 80 per cent of teachers reported at least one problem with religious symbols in the classroom since 2004, and 63 per cent since 2021.

 

The Ifop poll also asked teachers about the murder of Mr Paty and found that 77 per cent believed that the French Ministry of Education has not learned from the killing of the teacher and the problems of religion in French schools.

Threats against teachers have also been reported since the murder of Paty, such as French philosophy teacher Didier Lemaire, who was placed under police protection in February of 2021 for writing a letter defending Paty’s actions in showing a picture of Mohammed.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

 

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