LONGUEUIL, QUE. -- Police forces have announced that police tours on school grounds will take place starting Thursday in order to educate students on how to comply with the new health instructions.
The initiatives come as the additional restrictions related to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec come into force in the red zones.
High school students are now required to wear face coverings at all times in school, both in class and outside on school grounds.
At least two Monteregie police forces, the Longueuil police (SPAL) and the Richelieu-Saint-Laurent Intermunicipal Police Board announced in a joint news release that other prevention and awareness actions will be taken and developed in consultation with partners such as school service centres and public health authorities.
The goal is to act in a more targeted way with young people in the region so that schools do not close.
The authorities say that several risky behaviours have recently been observed by both police and school staff.
“Many young people say to themselves: `We are in the same class, so we are in a bubble, so we don't need to wear the mask, we don't need to keep the two metres because he's my friend, he's in my class.'” Said Sgt. Patrick Barrière of the Longueuil police.
Students' parents are also invited to continue the discussion with their children on means of protection during the health crisis and to review with them the different instructions for distancing and wearing a face covering.
The new measures that come into effect Thursday in the red zones also provide that students in secondary four and five will take their classes in class every other day, and the rest online. As for sports-study programs, meetings will be canceled.
Colleges and universities, for their part, should offer distance education to whatever extent possible.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2020.
