FREE TO SPEAK – SAFE TO LEARN - Democratic Schools for All focuses on making sure that children and young people at school feel free to speak and safe to learn, so that they can explore even the most controversial points of view, so that opinions which might lead to discrimination, hate speech or bullying – or even veer into violent extremism – can be challenged and discussed.
This requires that schools are democratic and that pupils, students, teachers, school leaders, parents and members of the local community respect human rights and have the competences they need to function effectively in a democratic society.
The campaign addresses the following themes:
- making children's and students’ voices heard;
- addressing controversial issues
- preventing violence and bullying;
- dealing with propaganda, misinformation and fake news;
- tackling discrimination;
- improving well-being at school.
The campaign will be launched on 14 November 2018 and will be run until 2022, at national, regional and European level. It involves 50 states across Europe; the Council of Europe’s 47 member states as well as Belarus, the Holy See and Kazakhstan, as additional parties to the Organisation’s European Cultural Convention.
Source: Council of Europe news item
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