France: Gang Plan
The French government has released a “Gang Plan” to tackle street violence, especially among minors. Below you will find one of the solutions exposed in the plan, which is to target extra school time in order to foster children’s commitment in positive activities.
Objectives:
Several objectives are targeted within the framework of this action.
Firstly, it is necessary to amplify territorial and educative public policies through stronger coordination of regional and departmental levels of national education, youth and sports services, and partnerships with community education organisations.
Secondly, the purpose is to increase educational and supervised time for children and teenagers, and allow them to commit in civic activities outside of school time. The inner objective is to fight against teenagers’ bad influences, providing teenagers with additional academic support, preventing school dropout, and encouraging the development of bonds of friendship and solidarity between residents of rival disadvantaged district, to prevent the gear of collective violence.
Methods of implementation:
- Setting a local strategy adapted to disadvantaged districts, coordinating common various actors, and developing the cultural, civic, educational, professional and sports offer.
- Identifying voluntary communities, and putting them in touch with eligible associations to improve and expand the extracurricular offer on Wednesdays (a day where French students usually do not have class).
- Deploying and intensifying the use of inter-district educational projects, in order to promote exchanges and meetings.
These actions create and develop social ties through collective activities, by enhancing social diversity, especially between neighborhoods.
Examples of programs developed:
Holiday Vouchers
The National Agency for Holiday vouchers promotes the departure of employees on vacation. It will launch special projects for territories affected by gang violence. It will support local actors, (especially municipalities), in the organization of holiday departures involving families living in different districts that are opposing. Families with children aged 10 and under will be particularly targeted.
Wednesday Plan:
Local communities can contract with the state and the families benefit fund to create an educational project for their territories that include a high quality educational leisure in order to maintain a coherence with school lessons. Through this label, the community received technical and financial support for it.
Summer neighborhood plan:
This operation consists in strengthening local services in the poor districts, by offering festive, cultural and educational activities. It allows young people from targeted districts to have a free access to various programs throughout the territory and to step out from their neighborhood.
Learning holidays:
Sessions providing academic support as well as cultural, sport and leisure activities to children. This program mixes children from various social background and from rival territories to downsize tensions between them and, on the long-term, reinforce the necessary skills to commit in social life and professional integration."