We can stick a “madam” in front of an insult, it does not change anything deep. Didn’t you see him coming, huh? Back to school in 2025 will be under the sign of respect: prohibition of cellular, vouvoyal and use of expressions “madam” and “sir” compulsory in private and public schools in Quebec.
This announcement of Minister Drainville testifies to a refocusing of the school on his primary missions: learning, discipline and respect. Refocus the school on its fundamentals, limit distractions and promote respectful language are legitimate objectives. On this point, let us salute the consistency in the intentions of Minister Drainville.
The nuance between violence, respect, civility is important. Among the measures announced, that which is really distinguished by its concrete impact potential is the creation of specialized intervention teams, intended to support schools faced with serious problems of violence. This is the only measure which, in the short term, could really improve the school climate.
Back in 1970
But the rest, especially the compulsory vouvoyant, I look at that and I have the strange impression of an accelerated return to the 1970s. Except that instead of making them listen to harmonium and make them recite Speak Whitewe impose on students with frozen social codes and a total digital reaches, as if the time when the phone had a thread and the teacher a stick was the golden age of education! A study by Lambert and Tucker demonstrated that the use of “you” in adults was, in the 1970s, a brand of modernity, while the “you” was seen as a brand of conservatism and frozen hierarchical relationships.
But in the field, realities are more complex.
-Samy-Jane, a teacher in the reception class brings a completely different perspective: “It is difficult, because social and linguistic codes are not the same for everyone. One of my students who speaks Swahili never vouvoyé … The “you” does not exist in his mother tongue! ” Here: language is a meeting field, not a control tool.
Control the teachers
Tutying adults does not mean that students will go to have a beer or raise pigs with school staff. Be without fear, the Vouvoyer is not in the process of extinction! Other studies demonstrate that young people practice it, gradually, over non -personal meetings.
Imposing the “you” in our schools is almost returning to the uniform, the rosary and the school inspector in the decor. To return to the “you” imposed is to put in place a social distance that many believed outdated – or, at least, deserved, not automatic.
Last year, I had students who said “madam” to me by tutoring myself, others who vowed to me … but with my first name. A happy mixture of codes. And frankly, some adults no longer like to do like each other, especially in 2025. So the vouvoyance that we impose on students, we also impose it on adults.
The management of the school climate is not only based on linguistic rules or prohibitions, but on structured, suitable, concrete interventions!
