On Friday 18 November the “train of democracy”, so named as the children travel to the capital by train, took place once again. This year’s edition also served to commemorate World Children’s Day on 20 November, offering children the chance to communicate their thoughts and hopes to politicians. Nearly 140 pupils from 10 different classes in Luxembourg visited the Chamber, and some of them spoke to RTL Luxembourg’s Sabrina Backes about the topics closest to their hearts.
When asked how they envisioned the Chamber, the children responded that they imagined a room lavishly decorated in gold. However, they also said it was a place where the people’s opinions should be represented, and expressed their eagerness to participate. The children worked together within their classes to write down diverse political issues to later discuss with MPs.
Pupils at a primary school in Wiltz had many thoughts on the topics of discrimination and equality.
Child 1: “We spoke about bullying, but also about children’s rights and human rights. We talked about how people in Iran are not being treated fairly in terms of their human rights.”
Child 2: “We talked about money, because here in Luxembourg they spend too much on war. Instead they should give more money to poor people, not war, because it gets worse every year...”
Child 3:“We spoke about food waste. There are lots of children who don’t have enough to eat. We could give these people food, but we don’t, instead food gets thrown in the bin.”
Another class from a school in Limpertsberg highlighted the topic of violence and kidnapping prevention.
Child 4: “We said it was important to take better care of ourselves, not to open doors to strangers, avoid speaking to strangers. We discussed having more lighting in parks so that people have better visibility around them.”
The children, all from cycles 3 and 4, spoke passionately with the MPs in the Chamber. At the end of the discussion, each group wrote down a number of key points, which they later presented to the rest of the children and the politicians present.
