It all started with an image, in December 2020. For her science class, a teacher in a college in Trappes (Yvelines) presents a timeline on the evolution of man. Homo erectus, homo sapiens and monkeys make up the infographic. What surprises? A montage that the teacher made to “interest the students”. Alongside the monkeys, Stéphanie * has indeed added a photo: that of the singer Soprano.
The editing scandalizes a student. The image is shared by his father on Facebook: “Is there anything that shocks you??? My daughter she told me dad c not normal, ”he wrote. Two months later, following a meeting between the teacher and the father, the photo is deleted from social networks.
But the damage is done. The montage has gone viral and the teacher is threatened. For her protection, she is forced to leave the establishment and the region. “I lost everything, everything I’ve built for ten years, this man stole my life and I was very scared,” she told AFP.
It is because the Samuel Paty affair is still in people’s minds. Four months earlier, on October 16, 2020, after having also been threatened on social networks, the history and geography teacher was beheaded in front of his school.
Not his first edit
She is used to this kind of editing. On other images, “photos of Kylian Mbappé or Josiane Balasko”, explains The Parisian who disclosed the affair. She also explains to the microphone of BFM that she is doing this editing because a student complained, in 2015, of only seeing white characters in textbooks. Today, “I am apprehensive to address other sensitive subjects such as puberty and reproduction”, says the one who is now a replacement in another region.
In November 2021, the student’s father was sentenced to six months in prison and 13,600 euros in damages by the Versailles court. However, he was acquitted of the charge of public insult to an official, the prosecution told AFP. This decision is under appeal. The date of the new trial is not yet known.