[New Orleans has had most of its schools fenced for at least 30 years that I know of.]

Wednesday 27.11.2002, CET 22:11 November 27, 2002 1:15 PM PARIS (Reuters) - Some French schools have become so violent they should have high-security fences, video surveillance systems and electronic gates to deter fighting between gangs, France's education minister has said.

Xavier Darcos made the comments on Wednesday after two men in balaclavas [ski masks] burst into a secondary school in the Paris suburbs on Monday and fired rubber balls from a "Flash Ball" gun into a classroom, leaving a 16-year-old pupil with a badly bruised eye.

"I am shocked and scandalised by these events. Schools are becoming closed spaces for score-settling between rival gangs. School must get back to being a sanctuary," Darcos told Le Parisien newspaper.

"The most sensitive establishments must be equipped with fences. Video surveillance systems and electronic gates must be installed in the worst sites. Schools have to start protecting themselves," he said.

While gang warfare in suburban areas is nothing new to France, the country has seen rising violence in and around schools in recent months, ranging from theft of expensive accessories such as mobile phones to gang rapes.

Fifteen thousand incidents of serious violence were reported in French schools in September and October alone.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2002