Amid pandemic鈥檚 isolation, French students turn to each other for support
| Paris
It鈥檚 a Wednesday night, just after sunset. On a remote street hidden from view, hundreds of college students stand in a line that snakes around the block, waiting to collect bags of donated food. Volunteers meander through the crowd offering hot tea, as a jazz band from the Paris Conservatory of Music plays to boost morale.
Myriam and Deborah, friends from Marseille, have been waiting in below-freezing temperatures for a half-hour with another half-hour to go, but they say it鈥檚 worth it. 鈥淚 moved to Paris for school and had all these initial expenses, and then it was impossible to find a part-time job because of the pandemic,鈥� says Myriam, a first-year law student who has been living off a meager internship. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so difficult.鈥�
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 attended my online classes since October,鈥� says Deborah, a graduate student in philosophy. 鈥淚鈥檓 giving myself until next week to get back on track. I really don鈥檛 want to drop out.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Going to university in France usually comes with active socializing and jobs to provide for necessities. The pandemic has cut off all that, forcing students to find ways to deal with isolation and financial shortfalls.
Since France鈥檚 first lockdown nearly one year ago, university campuses have been shuttered and students have been limited to full-time online learning. Unlike other schools here, where in-person teaching opened up this past fall, university students have been left behind.
The social and academic isolation of online learning is only one consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic for college students. Many have lost part-time jobs and are struggling to pay rent, leading to a newfound financial uncertainty. Others have moved home or dropped out of school. A cluster of recent suicide attempts has highlighted the urgent need for more mental health and financial support for students.
The French government allowed in-person teaching to begin on a limited basis in late January and has implemented a handful of initiatives to support students financially. But students say these offers are mere 鈥渂read crumbs鈥� and don鈥檛 begin to scratch the surface of the damage wreaked by the pandemic. They鈥檙e not waiting for top-down directives. Instead students are banding together, creating support groups and services in order to find solutions and be heard.
鈥淲e feel forgotten by the system but moreover, we feel sacrificed,鈥� says Jean Robert, a third-year political science student in Montpellier and member of the student movement 脡tudiants Fant么mes 鈥� 鈥済host students.鈥� 鈥淲e don鈥檛 understand why we can鈥檛 go to class when all other levels can, as if we鈥檙e the cause of COVID-19 cases exploding across the country because we aren鈥檛 behaving well. It鈥檚 not too late to let us go back to class, but now we also need psychological and financial support.鈥�
鈥淐ompletely demoralized鈥�
Students across the country have gone public about their distress 鈥� from financial woes to social isolation.
COVID-19 restrictions have resulted in students losing their jobs babysitting or in restaurants, cutting their individual incomes by several hundred euros per month, which they rely on for food, rent, or necessities. French companies 鈥� dealing with their own pandemic-caused setbacks 鈥� are struggling to integrate students into internship programs, which in turn sows uncertainty about聽students鈥� future.聽
Dropout rates have been hard to calculate officially, but students themselves note a drop in motivation as classes continue in front of a screen. First-year students, who may have arrived on campus just as lockdowns went into effect, have struggled to find community. In January, two students attempted suicide at their student housing in Lyon, and took her life after telling friends of her social and academic isolation.
鈥淚 have students who are far from home, stuck in tiny apartments, and can鈥檛 find the motivation to work or even get up in the morning,鈥� says Anne Delaigue, a psychotherapist who treats doctoral students at the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e completely demoralized, worried, and isolated, which translates into a sense of doubt about their overall abilities. It鈥檚 extremely difficult to work when you鈥檙e totally unstimulated.鈥�
University professors and student groups have sounded the alarm about a rising student crisis since the fall. But it came to a head last month when Fr茅d茅rique Vidal, France鈥檚 minister of higher education, hinted that the reason university campuses had remained closed was due to student irresponsibility. During a visit to a Paris university, Ms. Vidal said that COVID-19 was being spread by le brassage 鈥� students meeting one another in cafes or in the school cafeteria.
The comments caused a firestorm. A Montpellier student wrote an open letter to the minister in consternation and another created the 鈥溍塼udiants Fant么mes鈥� Twitter hashtag. In the space of one day, the hashtag had been tweeted more than 70,000 times by students demanding the government do more.
The French government has responded to the growing crisis with a handful of measures. Since Jan. 25, students can purchase two meals per day at college cafeterias for 鈧�1 each. They now have the option of returning to class one day per week. And starting Feb. 1, they are being offered a 鈥減sy check,鈥� which allows for three free 45-minute sessions with a psychotherapist.
But student groups say the measures don鈥檛 address the deeper impact the pandemic has had on college students, and that the government鈥檚 piecemeal measures aren鈥檛 enough.聽A student in Metz posted a photo of his meager 鈧�1 state-funded meal on Twitter in rebuttal, while professionals say the 鈥減sy check鈥� doesn鈥檛 make up for the dearth of available mental health services. A recent study by the nonprofit listening hotline Nightline France showed that there was only one university psychologist available per 30,000 students in France.聽
鈥淪ome students are waiting four to six months to get an appointment with a therapist,鈥� says Ms. Delaigue. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbearable, especially for those in a state of crisis.鈥�
鈥淭here is no shame in asking for help鈥�
For starters, student groups are fighting to destigmatize mental health problems and show the importance of reaching out to others to maintain social links. The 脡tudiants Fant么mes movement is positioning itself to become a proper nonprofit, which will include a mental health arm. And Nightline France has created a website dedicated to student resources, from suicide prevention hotlines to addiction services.聽
鈥淐ollege students were already a vulnerable population before the pandemic, and their particular anxieties and difficulties will exist after the pandemic is over,鈥� says Florian Tirana, a college student and the president of Nightline France. 鈥淥ur overall goal is to remove the taboo surrounding mental health, and offer the right information so this topic becomes normalized and something we can talk about freely.鈥�
Aid groups are also trying to reduce the stigma about asking for financial help. Anti-food-waste program Linkee sets up distribution stations close to college campuses five days a week, sometimes three times per day, providing an estimated 25,000 meals per week to college students in need.
鈥淢any of these students are not used to asking for this type of aid and have never had to take handouts,鈥� says Alexis Carer, a press representative for Linkee. 鈥淲e want our food donations to happen in the best circumstances, to show there is no shame in asking for help.鈥�
Campuses around the country have joined the effort. A corner room within the hallways of the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris holds bags of food donations, which students can sign up to take home. It鈥檚 bringing students back onto campus, as classes here slowly get underway. Universities are only allowed to operate at 20% capacity and most students are only coming for one class per week. But many are braving regional trains, early waking hours, and even COVID-19 to find social interaction once again.
鈥淣ow, for many of my students it鈥檚 not mandatory to come back to class, but they鈥檙e coming anyway,鈥� says Nancy Nottingham, an adjunct professor in business English at Sorbonne Nouvelle, who has been teaching online classes for the past three months. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e missed being together and with their teachers.鈥�
鈥淚 live alone and don鈥檛 have family here; I鈥檝e been studying at home for the past three months without much social contact,鈥� says Tianyi, a Chinese graduate student in applied foreign languages. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really helpful to be able to come back to class. I really appreciate the gesture. We鈥檙e kind of risking our lives by being here, but I feel that it鈥檚 worth it.鈥�
