Young people hanging around in a town dozing in the summer sunshine, were suddenly plunged back into the school universe, last Wednesday in Sion : they were asked to make suggestions for a “Violence Free School” Charter. The exercise was part of the Summer University around Children’s Rights, set up by IUKB and IDE in collaboration with the Family and Integration Ministry of Luxemburg.

Tolerance and dialogue were the key words in the suggestions emanating from around 50 youths interviewed by 5 groups. From the teenagers' “Thinking is a Right” to the “You must respect others” of  the smaller, the articles of the imaginary Charter dealt in their majority with these non-violence aspects. These school-goers had obviously this kind of notion present to their mind. 

The party enjoying the biggest amount of trust are teachers, liable to animate lessons, to create exchange – even mediation - platforms, to prevent conflicts.
Some of them, however, wish more forceful interventions by the teachers, and even camera surveillance : this indicates that peer relations still follow a balance of power logic.

The Summer University around Children’s Rights 2008 has dealt with the issue of “Violence Against Children” and gathered 20 participants in Sion (Switzerland) from July 14th to 18th, 2008. Beside school violence, the lectures tackled other issues like violence in the family and in institutions (notably towards youths in conflict with the law). The cross-cutting issue was prevention. The complete training cycle of the Summer University is composed of four modules, the next of them in July 2009 in Luxemburg.

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