French leaders are preparing to implement a ban on social media use for children under the age of 15 and restrict knife sales to minors after a 14-year-old boy fatally stabbed a teaching assistant at a secondary school, prompting widespread national alarm.
The shocking incident occurred on Tuesday in Nogent, eastern France, when a pupil stabbed a 31-year-old school assistant during a bag search. The teenager was subsequently arrested.
In a statement posted to X, President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to push for tighter controls. “I am proposing to ban social media for under-15s,” he wrote. “Platforms are capable of verifying ages. Let’s act.”
Greece, supported by France and Spain, has been leading a European Union initiative to curb young people’s access to online platforms due to mounting evidence linking social media use to adverse physical and mental health effects in children.
Macron stressed that France would press ahead with its own measures if the EU fails to take action in the coming months. “We can’t afford to wait,” he told broadcaster France 2.
The tragic killing has intensified concerns over violence in schools. In March, French authorities began random checks for knives and other weapons in and around school premises.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister François Bayrou’s office confirmed that the government would introduce a ban on knife sales to minors within the next two weeks through a formal decree. Speaking to TF1, Bayrou said the ban would take effect “immediately” and would apply to “any knife that could be used as a weapon.” He also proposed trialling metal detectors in schools.
Education Minister Élisabeth Borne has asked all schools across France to observe a minute’s silence at midday on Thursday in memory of the slain teaching assistant. Speaking on France Inter, she said: “The entire education community is in mourning, and so is the nation.”
While expressing openness to enhanced security measures, Borne also noted the limitations of current tools, warning that ceramic blades could bypass metal detectors.
