- In the Schools of Rebellion, the movement that was born in September in Catalonia is called this: since then there have been eight playful protests in schools (last week), bringing education and play to the streets and hindering traffic. The school environment requires it to become a safe pedestrian space, free of cars, pollution and noise. The movement, which has spread outside Catalonia, has already reached Bilbao.
Convened by the associations of parents, the protest took place in eleven Catalan cities, including the one of cutting 45 streets in Barcelona. The next date is April 23: students, parents and educational staff will take the roads again to reclaim more livable school environments.
In Bilbao, Cervantes Public School also took to the streets last March, coinciding with the Schools of Rebellion movement. Cervantes’ parents have pointed out that the demand to pedestrianize the school area and improve the area for a long time, under the motto “No cars, health yes”. “In Bilbao an effort has been made to take out space to the cars and give it to the hotel owners to put terraces. Why can’t you do the same with school spaces?”
Along the same lines, the Federation of Associations of Fathers and Mothers of Álava, Denon Eskola, has recently called for the involvement of the Basque Government and municipalities in the transformation of school environments.
A city with children on the street is a healthy city
Not only do they demand school environments, but people in general are more livable and friendly. For years, the initiative for children to go to school on their own has been launched in many villages: on foot and in a group, discovering the people, living and enjoying the environment, making the way autonomously with the youngest and oldest, taking on the street and the obstacles and pleasures of the street. When we made this beautiful initiative known, we recovered the words of Italian pedagogue Francesco Tonucci: “If there are children who play, walk or are alone in the city, it is a healthy city. However, if you don't see any child in the city, it's a sign that the city is sick. A city where children circulate on the street is safe, not only for children, but for the elderly, the disabled and for all citizens. And in order for the children to be able to leave the house alone, the city needs to be changed, albeit little by little”.