13.03.2003

'Kids see things clearer'

Pimlico school students learn

Kansas: We're sort of starting small in terms of getting people activated. A few weeks ago, some friends did a demonstration song about Bush and Blair and that got floated around the school. This week, I made up a load of leaflets, photocopied them and now they're stuck up advertising the People's Assembly today and trying to get the people who oppose the war to actually take action. We find that most people are interested, but the majority of them can't actually be arsed to do anything about it. Some are pro-war and are ripping down our stuff. The pro-war people are a minority - and they're just doing it to be different. I think people will start to get serious when the war starts. Obviously, they would get really serious if someone they knew got killed. But the start of the war will definitely make things more serious. Minny: Yesterday when me and my sister were putting up leaflets and handing them out, my head of year was really against it, telling us it was stupid and school was more important. But it's not. This is about saving people's lives. A few teachers have been helping - some may be coming to this meeting later. So we are getting some support. Some of them think we are showing initiative and we are standing up for what we believe in. Emily: This is part of our education as people - we're learning to stand up for what we think is right. When we go to school, we are supposed to learn about stuff that will help us the rest of our lives. This is helping us understand what we are going to do in society. To say 'school's more important' is stupid. If war goes ahead, what does school matter? So coming here is a better way to get educated - by trying to stop the war and to make a real impact on the world. There are broader questions that need to be taken up as well. We are not allowed to vote - we don't have a voice. We should have a person in parliament who comes to us and asks, 'What do you want to happen?' But there's no one there, they're just saying, 'We're adults - we know best.' But in some ways, the kids can see things clearer than the adults. They should listen to us. There is a real problem with democracy - all the views come from adults. But it's our future that's going to get changed, so we need our own voice. Rebecca: My mum knows I'm involved, but she doesn't know I'm here. She probably won't be that angry, as this is helping our country stay out of a war. This is not playing truant because we are here learning. And playing truant is being out of school without a reason. Well, I think we have got quite a big reason. In school, you can sometimes be picked on for being different - for wearing different clothes, of whatever. But in a meeting like this, we all come together. It doesn't matter how old you are, who you are. We are all together trying to stop this thing that could destroy all our lives. I think it would be good to have a committee or some organisation that discussed the needs of children, how we think and what we need. We live in this world, we should have a say about what goes on it.