Youth without horizons?” “” “

Over 81,000 reports of acts of violence were registered in secondary schools in France in the 2003-2004 school year: a 12% increase over the previous year. Most of the violence took the form of “physical violence without weapons” (29.2% of the total, or 23,754 cases), followed by “insults and grave threats” (24,7%, 20.082 cases), and “theft and attempted theft” (10.5%, 8,535 cases). The report – drawn up by the Ministry of Education – also reports an increase of cases of physical violence of sexual character (1630 cases), violations linked to drug abuse and attempted suicides (545 cases). It is indicative, lastly, that from January onwards, roughly a thousand acts of violence with racial motivation and over 200 with antisemitic motivation have been registered. These acts represent 3% of the incidents reported and involved one school in ten. But the world of French youth also has another face. It is that involved in various projects promoted in French dioceses in cooperation with youth pastoral ministry, as part of “World Missionary Week” from 17 to 24 October. The initiatives took the form of meetings, performances, fundraising and exchanges of experiences with missionary communities in various parts of the world. There is also the face of World Youth Day which in France too is polarizing a whole series of initiatives in preparation for Cologne 2005. The last of these is the presentation of the logo chosen by France for the event: a huge comet aimed at Cologne, at the centre of the European continent, alluding to the theme of WYD in 2005: “We have come to worship him”. On these two faces of youth, we interviewed Father Jean-Paul Larvol , secretary of the French bishops’ Committee for childhood and youth. How are you struck by the data of the report of the Ministry of Education? “That there is such an increase of violence in schools is striking. The Church is well aware of the situation; she knows there are great difficulties, especially in schools situated in the more difficult quarters. All this tells us clearly that the young are distressed and that that this sense of distress derives from the fact that they don’t see horizons opening before them: they are worried about the future. It’s no accident that the violence especially occurs in vocational schools. These phenomena pose the educational question in a very strong way and prompt reflection on what needs to be done”. What do you think of the fact that racial and antisemitic violence is also increasing? “The difficulties the young have in coming to terms with cultural and racial diversities underline the need – again in terms of education – to create social bonds, and propose forms of conduct that may foster community life. Clearly there are difficulties: it’s not easy to educate in the values of mutual acceptance and community life in places where, also for reasons of social type, the young often have difficulty in coming to terms with the presence of people of the same age who don’t have the same origin, the same culture, or the same religion. It’s true, however, that when the young are offered places of meeting and sharing, participation is ever more numerous and deep-felt. Projects realized by the Church confirm this”. What new projects are you thinking of launching for the young? “The episcopal Commission of education is currently working on a document dedicated just to education. It’s a reflection that tries to understand what it means to educate today, in what direction we want to go and what goal we want to achieve. The objective is to help educators, parents and animators to accept the positive side of youth”. Does that mean that the problem is the lack of educators? “The problem is undoubtedly not just that of educators. There’s also the question of the role parents play; they often feel helpless as their children grow older. Educators also have to cope with a generation that is ever less willing to accept what they propose to it. And then there is the whole youth world, from associations to movements. But the whole educational question revolves round the question of meaning. So the problem is not so much to reflect on who it is that educates or how he does so, but to understand what is the deep meaning of the educational act. We need to understand, in other words, what it means to educate, to form the man and woman of the future, to give the young the necessary tools to deal with life and above all to show them how to find a love of life and the will to build a world that is not only aimed at profit and marked by divisions and conflicts, large and small”.