{"id":55405,"date":"2021-01-03T11:08:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T19:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=55405"},"modified":"2021-01-03T11:08:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-03T19:08:34","slug":"secularism-how-do-children-perceive-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/secularism-how-do-children-perceive-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Secularism: how do children perceive it ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

As after the\u00a0<\/span>Charlie Hebdo<\/span><\/em>\u00a0attacks\u00a0,\u00a0<\/span>the assassination of Samuel Paty<\/span><\/a>\u00a0gave rise to its share of proposals to strengthen the teaching of secularism at school: the president of the \u201cRepublicans\u201d group in the National Assembly, Damien Abad, in particular demanded the establishment of\u00a0<\/span>“courses on the values \u200b\u200bof the Republic and secularism”<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, sanctioned by a compulsory test for the college certificate, as well as a “secularity test in the teaching competition”.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what about children’s knowledge of\u00a0<\/span>this republican principle<\/span><\/a>\u00a0which guarantees the neutrality of the state and agents in matters of religious convictions?<\/span><\/p>\n

A well-identified notion<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A\u00a0<\/span>survey carried out in Bordeaux<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in spring 2017 shows that schoolchildren are far from being silent on secularism.\u00a0Of the 160 CM1 and CM2 students who took part, 81% were able to answer at least part of the questionnaire, even though it had been agreed with the teachers that the concept would not be discussed in class before. investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contrary to what one might spontaneously assume, it was not the pupils from well-off and culturally homogeneous schools who obtained the best score: classes in schools with social and ethnic diversity were in the first place. of the podium, as if the diversity of the school environment provided resources for writing about secularism.<\/span><\/p>\n

From a qualitative point of view, the pupils of the privileged school were more successful in formulating an expert definition of the concept, but those of the other schools provided more numerous, more concrete examples, and more anchored in personal experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here we come back to an observation made by Annick Percheron, while she was interested in the\u00a0<\/span>political socialization<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of children from working-class and wealthy backgrounds: the latter were not behind the former because they had direct experience. political and social facts in their daily life.<\/span><\/p>\n

A source of prohibitions rather than freedoms<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If we look at the content attributed to secularism, it is striking to note that the young people surveyed see secularism more as a source of prohibitions than as a device which guarantees rights.\u00a0“We don’t have the right” is the expression that comes up most often in their pen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vast majority of students apply to themselves, within the school framework and sometimes even throughout the public space, the imperative of neutrality.\u00a0Ignoring, with some exceptions, the distinction made by the\u00a0<\/span>law of March 15, 2004<\/span><\/a>\u00a0between discreet religious signs (authorized) and conspicuous signs (prohibited), they consider that secularism implies the absence of any religious accessory within the school premises. : \u201cWe are not allowed to show signs that could make people think that we have a religion.\u00a0“<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding speech and words, respondents are unanimous in considering that all propaganda is to be banned (“For me, secularism is the prohibition to say that one’s religion is the best and that the others are zero”), but they are divided on the idea that one can converse, without proselytizing, of religion at school.\u00a0A quarter of the students answer negatively, another quarter positively while the remaining half develop a fine casuistry based on:<\/span><\/p>\n