{"id":2479,"date":"2015-11-25T18:12:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T17:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erdurand.com\/blog\/?p=2479"},"modified":"2015-11-25T18:12:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T17:12:17","slug":"a-republican-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.erdurand.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/a-republican-breakfast\/","title":{"rendered":"A republican breakfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the summer, the local council put the symbols of the French Republic : “Libert\u00c3\u00a9, Egalit\u00c3\u00a9, Fraternit\u00c3\u00a9” on\u00c2\u00a0the schools of our small town . More recently, they added\u00c2\u00a0the French flag, next to these symbols. Throughout France, all state schools now have these symbols. It is part of an initiative from the government to reinforce the\u00c2\u00a0values of the republic following\u00c2\u00a0the January 2015 terrorist attacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reinforcing values of\u00c2\u00a0the French Republic<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The January terror attack against Charlie hebdo shook the French people. They felt their whole value system was being attacked. What made it worst was that the two terrorists behind the attack were born and brought up in France. Somehow, somewhere, the French education system has failed, and the government is trying to reinforce the values of the French republic in the schools. Putting the republican symbols\u00c2\u00a0on the walls of the schools is one step toward this goal. It is also an attempt\u00c2\u00a0to reinforce unity in a country that is deeply divided. Teachers must also talk about the French values in class and discuss it with the children.\"Drapeaux_fran\u00c3\u00a7ais\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inaugurating the symbols<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our local town council wanted to mark the occasion by organizing a short ceremony in each school, around these symbols. They initially planned to do it at the end of\u00c2\u00a0the day, without\u00c2\u00a0the parents. That’s how they did it in\u00c2\u00a0the two other schools of\u00c2\u00a0the town. But our school council thought it would b a good idea to include as many parents as possible. We asked\u00c2\u00a0the town council if we could organize an event with as many parents as possible, on Wednesdays morning, before classes start. Usually there are more parents available\u00c2\u00a0on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n

So, this morning, parents and children were invited to share a republican breakfast and hear a short speech from our mayor.\u00c2\u00a0the children had learned la Marseillaise. They also sang le chant des partisans<\/a>, an anthem of the French resistance. A few also sang les Allobroges<\/a>, the anthem of Savoy, our region.<\/p>\n