High school Students’ Reactions to the 2015 Paris Attacks

Jean-François Mignot (1)

1 GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne

In some French schools, students challenged the minute's silence in tribute to the victims of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, thus revealing divisions whose extent and motivations remain poorly studied. With the necessary caution, our survey shows that high school students who do not fully condemn the perpetrators of the 2015 Paris attacks and/or who did not feel concerned by the minute's silence are not distinctive in terms of their family or socioeconomic situation, nor in terms of their feelings of being discriminated against on ethno-religious grounds. On the other hand, they are more often tolerant of deviance and violence in social life, are more frequently of foreign origin and are more numerous among young people of the Muslim faith. From what these students have to say, it appears that many of them are challenging the freedom to show disrespect for Islam and some of its dogmas. A lesser feeling of belonging to the national community also reduces their empathy towards the victims.

Mots clés: Charlie Hebdo; Bataclan; Terror attack; Violence; Islam; Free speech; Victim

Domaines: Sociologie; Sociologie; Science politique; Science politique; Religions; Religions; Méthodes et statistiques; Méthodes et statistiques

Jean-François Mignot. High school Students’ Reactions to the 2015 Paris Attacks. Brill. Radical Thought among the Young: A Survey of French Lycée Students, In press, 9789004432369. ⟨10.1163/9789004432369_004⟩. ⟨halshs-02924314⟩