"Nothing less than a coup d'etat we have to announce today," says Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The Federal President is visibly pleased with the 13 young people who "on a peaceful way and without the slightest resistance" took over the power at Schloss Bellevue on this day. No wonder. Finally, the lord of the castle invited the children and young people themselves.
Today, children have stormed town halls and courts in more than 60 cities and towns, radio broadcasts, written newspaper comments and organized classes at more than 200 schools. This reports the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, to which the nationwide action goes back. The occasion is 30 years of children's rights.
On November 20, 1989, the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention guarantees all children the right to survival, development and protection, and to be taken seriously and involved. The visit to the Federal President is one of the highlights of the celebrations.
Steinmeier wants to give the 13 young people between the ages of 10 to 18 years the opportunity to speak out. They are all involved in youth groups of Unicef for the implementation of children's rights.
"They do not represent a country, but a generation"
It's a grand staging performed for one and a half hours at Bellevue Palace. The house manager himself announces the young guests. According to the protocol, he does otherwise only for the Federal President and foreign state guests. The teenagers are sipping gold-framed porcelain cups and hiding their sneakers under the table. And First Lady Elke Büdenbender is visibly shuddering, whether they are the visitors now Duzen or Siezen, apparently torn between the young age and the painting of the official event.
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Commitment to Children's Rights: Take Serious and InvolveThe message from Bellevue is clear: The first man in the state and the first lady take time for the concerns of minors.
"They are very special guests of the state," says Buddenbender, who is the patron of Unicef Germany, to the young guests. "They do not represent a country, but a generation."
But this generation is obviously not satisfied.
Actually, in the conversation with the Federal President, the right to have a voice and the participation of children and adolescents should be quite general. But above all, there will be a debate about the failure of the German education system.
Criticism of the selective education system
The reports of the young visitors confirm what performance comparisons such as Pisa, Vera and Co., have been criticizing for years: Origin and social status in Germany play a much too large role in the educational path. The everyday examples of the students are depressing.
Bastian from Baden-Wurttemberg reported that he had been taught in elementary school that he could be happy if he made it to secondary school. The boy comes from socially difficult circumstances, he listened to how his teacher called his mother "lazy". "I had to help myself," says the 17-year-old. He never got support from teachers. Now he is about to graduate from high school.
Tosca from North Rhine-Westphalia says she did not have it easy as a working child from the village. The 17-year-old criticized that school recommendations mainly depend on the prejudices of the teachers and the "blabber" of the parents. Her neighbors Julia from Baden-Württemberg and Samira from Saxony agree with her.
"Teachers were biased"
Also Melina from Cologne has felt this, as well as Berkay from Hamburg. Both believe that their difficult school start was due mainly to prejudices due to their migrant background. "The teachers were biased," says the 18-year-old, in her class, only two German students had made it to high school. The 18-year-old from Hamburg explains that even the early screening after the fourth grade made his promotion difficult.
In the end, the First Lady asks the students for possible solutions.
One must uncouple the education from the origin, demands Tosca. "The school has to be so good that parents no longer have to support their children."
Samira suggests that schools should exchange more, for example when it comes to programs where students give each other tuition. "Then not every school has to come up with a good idea."
"Pragmatic", the presidential couple find the approaches of children and adolescents. Steinmeier assured at the end of the conversation, he and his wife would seize the word in the interests of the students at their numerous appointments.
"I believe them," says Belina, the hosts had listened to them earnestly, asking a lot and taking notes. Now they are counting on Steinmeier's promise. "The Federal President can reach politics," says Berkay, "we can not do that."
