Poll: 84 Per Cent of French Fear Difficulties for Young People Leading to Growing Insecurity and Delinquency

A poll has revealed that the vast majority, 84 per cent, of French fear that social and economic difficulties among those aged 18 to 34 is resulting in increased violence and urban insecurity.

The Fiducial-Odoxa security barometer, which was published this week, revealed that when broken down by age groups, those over 65 fear a rise in delinquency the most at 92 per cent. But even a majority of people in the 18 to 34 age bracket, 73 per cent, say they are worried about growing insecurity in their own generation.

In all, 84 per cent of French are concerned about rising delinquency among the young, the report states.

According to a report from the French newspaper Le Figaro, which published the survey, gang-related conflicts have increased by 24 per cent over the last year.

In addition, the security barometer found that young people were facing more difficulties than older generations in terms of employment and experienced a deterioration of their social lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

Young people are also reporting more mental health problems, with 54 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 saying they have psychological issues such as depression — 10 per cent higher than those over the age of 34 — against the backdrop of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

Just 21 per cent of those surveyed said they had confidence in the government’s ability to stop delinquency, a drop from 40 per cent in the spring of 2017 when President Emmanuel Macron was first elected but up from a low of 17 per cent earlier this year.

Currently, the age of the majority in the French criminal justice system is set at 18. But 68 per cent of those surveyed said they would support it being lowered to 15 in order to prosecute younger criminals as adults.

Urban violence and delinquency have become major issues in France in recent months, even leading to 20 former French generals penning a letter warning French President Macron that he could face a possible civil war if security were not restored in the French republic.

A poll taken days after the publication of the letter by Harri interactive revealed that nearly half of the French public supported the idea of the military acting to guarantee order in France, even without the command from the government to do so.

Two nights of urban violence were seen over the weekend in northern Paris as locals, fed up with drug dealing and addicts around the area of the Stalingrad metro station, were reported to have attacked the criminals with mortar fireworks.

The same type of firework, which allows the user to direct them at a target, has been used in various clashes between youths and police across France during the Wuhan coronavirus lockdowns.