The main headlines in the local paper today were:

Ardennes: encore un instit insulté (another teacher insulted).

Now, in England it seems that teachers have to put up with aggressive pupils and parents on almost a daily basis. It only becomes newsworthy if someone - usually the teacher -  is killed or badly injured.

Here, though, there is universal condemnation of such behaviour and when it happens twice in two weeks it makes front page news.

However, on neither occasion did it get as far as blows.

Two weeks ago, a teacher in Revin was verbally abused by the parents of one of his pupils but yesterday, in a small village school two teenagers accosted a teacher in the playground  claiming to be the elder siblings of one of the children in his class.

There were threats and insults but no physical violence, perhaps because the altercation was interrupted by the mayor who happened to be passing by and came to the teacher's defence by persuading the teenagers to leave.

All the same, the teacher is receiving psychological counselling and the school has cancelled the Christmas fete that should have taken place on Saturday because the staff don't feel safe.

I'm torn between feeling pleased that such abuse is taken seriously and wondering whether the reaction might be just a bit over the top