Sarkozy gets tough with problem students, and one responds by lobbing bottle at him

Bottle flies as Sarkozy gets tough on problem kids

BEAUVAIS, France — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has narrowly missed getting hit by a plastic bottle lobbed by a student during a school visit to combat school violence.

Sarkozy visited a middle school in a problem zone in Beauvais, northwest of Paris. As he explained measures to crack down on delinquency, a pupil tossed a plastic bottle, which lightly brushed the president — who didn’t flinch.

The school’s deputy head, Jerome Rochard, said by phone that it was unclear who tossed the bottle Tuesday from the crowd of some 500.

Among Sarkozy’s hotly contested measures are plans to create school boot camps for defiant pupils aged 13-16 and suspend family subsidies to parents whose kids play hooky. That measure needs parliamentary approval.