On average 40,000 violent incidents occur each term. This can be partially due to the fact that the teacher is both the instructor and counselor; therefore, the instructor is always the first to contact the student's parent no matter what the problem happens to be (Lui & Barnhart, 1999). French public schools have four levels: preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. Preschool is not mandatory but popular among parents. The age for preschool is 2-5 years of age. Elementary school begins at age six which consist of a fire grade education program. The focus of education is French language and math. Following elementary school is a four grade departmentalized middle school. The first to grades student study the same topics; however, once in eighth grade focus changes. Faster learners proceed on with advancing in there subjects. In contrast, slower learners are placed in vocational based classes. After completion of middle school the next step in the educational process is to attend high school. However, to attend high school students must apply and be accepted to the school. Each high school is specialized in one type of major academic, technical, or vocational area. The high school programs last three years and focus heavily on the academic area. After high school students must take and pass the baccalaureate. This allows them to obtain a job or attend a school of higher education.
At the start of the nineteenth century, the educational system was controlled mostly by the Catholic church. This caused the educational program to be closed to many protestant students. Through pressure from a more liberal parliament, schools have become open to those who wish to attend. Since then schools have been divided into those that are funded by churches and those that are funded by the state. Slowly religion has been pushed out of all schools. More schools in France are leaning towards privatizing their schools.