Dear members, Parents in Junior High and High school,

On October 14th, the Parents’ Association was informed by a parent and some students that thefts have been committed in the gym locker rooms on the morning of  Oct 13th,, more than ten “2nde” students that were in class during that time were concerned, with nearly 50,000 Yen stolen. 

It appears that this is not the first occurrence as similar facts were reported on a smaller scale the previous week, unfortunately students were reluctant to report those acts to the schools’ administration.

We have asked the school’s administration to react promptly  :

• immediately informing students and parents, to avoid creating an atmosphere of suspicion among students,
• asking that head teachers in all junior-high and high school classes address the issue and raise students’ awareness of the situation, reminding them of the sanctions incurred (bearing in mind that any complaint to the police can only be lodged by the parents concerned). There should be no perception of impunity.
• Finally, set up effective preventive measures, such as access to a “safe” in the locker rooms. 

After our intervention, a message from the Headmaster was sent on  October 15th afternoon, but only to the “2nde” students and to their parents, stating that this topic will be on the agenda of the November 12th School Council meeting, but without  mention of any concrete action. The sport teachers also sent a message to all students in Junior High and High School, asking them to be careful with their belongings..

In the interest of families and children, we therefore recommend the following:

• ensure that your children do not bring expensive items or large sums of money to school, in particular not to leave valuables unattended in the gym locker rooms,
• invite them to immediately report any theft, either as victim or witness, to Vie Scolaire and to you.  The message to our children should be that not reporting these incidents only allows the perpetrators to thrive. 

The newly elected FLT representatives on the School Council will ask the school to quickly take concrete steps to secure our children’s environment. In our view, only appealing to everyone’s sense of responsibility is an inadequate answer and will not reassure students. 

Please send us your comments or suggestions on how best to deal with this subject for   discussion with the school’s administration.  

The FLT Fapée parents association.