Interview conducted by François GAUTIER

I enter the small office in the basement, once designed for showers and now the school's executive office: this is where Mrs. Cuvit works on Thursdays.

Are you the school's social worker?

Not exactly, I am a student social worker.

Yes, the school has created a listening space for concerns that high school students may have: relationships, prevention, rejection, harassment, addictions, career guidance,...

I receive students on request.

On two occasions, there was a knock on the door: a boy and then two girls, each wanting an interview.

I plan to do career guidance workshops, and I am also a member of the school's Health Commission.

What has been your career path?

I worked 14 years in a home for children placed by the Service de Protection des Mineurs (SPMi). I had a lot of interest in this work, in which I was very involved. But in the end, I had the impression that I had done all I could, and I needed to change. There was a lot of suffering.

What suffering?

Suffering among parents whose children had to be placed. Often living in precariousness, loneliness; fragile beings. Suffering also for the children who have to live in a community with professionals and other children they did not choose. They are forced to leave their family environment, their friends, their neighborhood... Life in an institution is difficult. Added to that is the state policy of putting more home-based care in place so that placement becomes the last resort. I think that's a great thing, but as a result, the children who came to the home were those with the most complex family situations, often with difficult life histories. So I chose to develop an independent activity as a family mediator, with some complementary activities, including the one I am doing here.

What was the reaction to your presence?

Being here only on Thursdays, I am just starting out. I introduced myself to the students in their classrooms, and did an anonymous survey from which I received many little bills. The kids here seem to be very interested. Some of them have stress to deal with, friendship concerns, questions about their future...

Students greet my presence by commenting:

"That's good!"

How did you discover the Steiner School and why did you choose it?

I have often heard about the Steiner school, I have several acquaintances who have had their children here and who were very happy with it. I also like the idea of respecting the child's rhythm and individuality as well as the importance given to the relationship with nature. I was also interested in discovering a structure that is independent from the state, where everything is compartmentalized. Here, I found a smaller structure, where discussions are held live, where there is a certain openness...

Do you have another activity?

Yes, I work at the "Point Rencontre", which is a mediating place for the exercise of visiting rights. The judges order one of the parents to see his or her child at the Point Rencontre. As a as an intervenerI try to facilitate the parent-child relationship. On the side I am also in charge of training for adults in the process of becoming Educational Social Assistants (ESA). I intervene to give some modules.

I leave the small office, saying to myself: Well, boy, would I have knocked on the desk of an elegant lady, a social counselor, eons ago? No, because the only office I could have gone to was that of an imposing and serious "dean".