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| Europe |
| France begins trial of compulsory civic service for teens |
| 2019-06-17 |
| [France24] Nearly two decades after France phased out conscription for men, some 2,000 teenagers on Sunday began a pilot programme for a new national civic service, a pet project of French President Emmanuel Macron. For a fortnight, the 15- and 16-year-olds will leave home for training in first aid and other basic skills, followed later by another two weeks of volunteering. Macron caused surprise on the campaign trail in 2017 by promising to introduce a month-long compulsory national service, saying he wanted to give girls and boys "a direct experience of military life". The proposal got a cool response from the army, which baulked at the prospect of having to put millions of teens through their paces, prompting the government to come back with proposals for a compulsory civic service instead. Some 2,000 youngsters, including 50 disabled teens, were chosen out of 4,000 volunteers for the first part of the trial, which started Sunday at boarding schools, holiday villages and university campuses around the country. The group includes high school students, drop-outs, apprentices and vocational school trainees. Each volunteer will leave home for another region for the two weeks, during which time they will be required to wear navy uniforms and sing the "Marseillaise", France's national anthem, every morning. Described as an "integration phase", teens will be taught first aid, map reading, emergency response for different scenarios and other skills. Imbued with a military ethos, the national service centres, managed by a "chief of brigade", will each feature five houses of 10 young people, Gabriel Attal, secretary of state to the minister of national education told Le Parisien. Although each house will have an adult supervisor, the teens will be responsible for dividing up tasks and taking care of the houses. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 Possibly they are looking at is as a way to Frenchify the immigrant population while gathering biometric information and charting the connections of those who they may need to become more familiar with later. Also introduce them to the bourgeoise behaviours that will allow them to better succeed in school and work, should they choose to adopt them. Two sessions of two weeks is not exactly a great imposition. When America had a military draft it was what — three years? And that with a reasonable chance of being killed, unlike a brief stint picking up trash along the highway or scrubbing graffiti off gravestones. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2019-06-17 19:59 |
| #5 Well, in France, you exist to serve the state. We have some of that disease around here too, but so far something, something, something keeps it at bay. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-06-17 18:48 |
| #4 Compulsory Volunteers. Of course the French are a paradox unto themselves. My mother was French, so I understand. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2019-06-17 15:43 |
| #3 It is never too young to get the serfs out in the fields and working on infrastructure. |
| Posted by: Vernal Hatrick 2019-06-17 13:40 |
| #2 Corvée: is a form of unpaid, unfree labour, which is intermittent in nature and which lasts limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. ...In France the corvée existed until August 4, 1789, shortly after the beginning of the French Revolution, when it was abolished along with a number of other feudal privileges of the French landlords. Everything old is new again! Socialism is so Progressive...! |
| Posted by: magpie 2019-06-17 13:07 |
| #1 programme for a new national civic service The Left has always found slavery attractive and cheap. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-06-17 08:09 |