La Croix, France’s Catholic newspaper, dedicates its front page to « la rentrée » or the return ot school. 800,000 teachers return to the slog today with students arriving back in the classrooms from tomorrow onwards.

Le Figaro focuses on the ever greater number of clashes between parents and teachers. One recent incident saw children playing a game of cowboys and Indians in a pre-school. The teacher repeatedly told them to quieten down. When they didn’t she took the Indians to one side and covered their mouths with their Indian headdresses. A few days later, the parents made a police complaint.

Another incident in Seine Saint Denis in the Paris suburbs saw a student called a teacher a “connard” – a word meaning ‘fool’ but a lot stronger. The teacher gave him a slap in the face and the parents later made a police complaint. Teachers’ blogs are full of stories like this one.

Then there was the incident of a young professional mother who lost her cool during a parent teacher meeting. She told the teacher, “Do something! At home she goes through my handbag, takes my lipstick and refuses to give it back. Explain to her that she shouldn’t!”

These anecdotes demonstrate the extent to which the lines have been blurred between the authority of parents and teachers. After 1968, parents had an increasingly large roll in schools. In 1989, a law was passed recognising their full role in the educational community and placing them at the centre of the system. Sarkozy promised to abolish this law when he was running for the Presidency.

Today, Sarkozy is holding a meeting on juvenile delinquency, one of his pet issues. The figures show that it’s on the rise. In April, the President announced a “merciless battle against scoundrels and delinquents”
In Libération, there’s an interview with a veteran police officer who says the figures related to delinquency have been exaggerated because of targets. Bonuses are offered to the police for higher rates of arrests so the small time hashish user or the youth found with a Swiss Army knife contribute to a exaggerated picture regarding the problem. Meanwhile, what about theft and violent crime – also the increase but not so much under the spotlight?

A war between two veterans of the Miss France competition is being covered in Aujourd’hui en France. Genevieve de Fontenay, the organiser of the Miss France competition, has called another aging Miss France, Luce Augur, a “saloppe” meaning “slut”. Why? Last year there was a scandal surrounding nude photos of the 2008 Miss France. Luce Augur supported the dethroned Miss France to the outrage of de Fontenay. Augur has taken a case against de Fontenay for slander but the trading of insults has continued with the latter recently saying of her nemesis, “She’s an absolute horror. Can you believe she was ever a Miss France?” The President of the Francophone Association of Beauty Competitions has said, “This language is not very appropriate for 75 year old women. When you scratch the surface, you see the poison underneath.”

Le Figaro reports on a case that has been brought in France against the comic book “Tin Tin in the Congo”, this after a similar case was brought before Belgian courts two years ago. The man behind this initiaitive, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, said the comic is injurious to the image of Belgium and he’s ready to go to the European Court of Human Rights.