French Fiends

Current top contender for the "Footnote Most Likely To Be Deleted From My Paper" Award:

Some years ago, I spent a summer teaching English at a French summer camp. The students were males, aged 13-17, and, I was told, products of the better schools (and, as such, more disciplined than the average student). I have never witnessed more flagrant disrespect for any kind of authority whatsoever. The French hosts informed me that the situation in the schools was exponentially worse. With a number of students my size and stature, I can sympathize with the teacher in Plato’s democracy who quivered in the face of his students, even though my response was ruthlessness and terror.