Macron’s comments were meant to underline the importance of redirecting public focus toward solving existential societal challenges like climate change ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice. But following the school stabbing those statements rang hollow to many French parents who worry if their children are safe in school.
“Public opinion already places security among its top concerns. Events like the Nogent knife attack serve as proof that these concerns are valid,” said Erwan Lestrohan, research director at polling institute Odoxa.
A survey from pollster Elabe, fielded in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s stabbing, found that 87 percent of respondents believed such incidents “reflect a real increase in violence among minors” rather than being “marginal phenomena.”
The poll found that just 21 percent of respondents trust Macron to take “effective action against juvenile violence and address its underlying causes,” compared to 42 percent for his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.
Particularly heinous acts involving minors appear to be on the rise in France, at least according to data cited by François-Noël Buffet, a conservative junior minister in the interior ministry. Buffet told lawmakers on Wednesday that while youth delinquency rates had remained stable from 2016 to 2024, the most violent acts, such as homicides, had increased.
“Violence among minors has changed appearance, it is more radical and more widespread,” Buffet said.