Lesley Riddoch: Children are taking up the political space they deserve
Youngsters are changing political priorities on both sides of the Atlantic, writes Lesley Riddoch
Are children finally taking up the political space they deserve? Around the world, adults are watching with admiration, hope and some relief as the young survivors of the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Florida turn their grief and sadness into action. In just 12 days they’ve devised a powerful and articulate anti-gun platform, which has targeted members of Congress funded by the National Rifle Association ahead of forthcoming elections and is now campaigning to register young voters.
The teenagers rejected the halfbaked solutions proffered by a wrong-footed Donald Trump and are planning a demonstration to the White House in late March, which could yet become an opportunity for children and teenagers around the world to show solidarity. The March for Our Lives has already attracted support from Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney and now Gucci has matched their donations, giving the young organisers almost $2 million to work with. No wonder. This weekend, pupil leader Emma Gonzalez exceeded the Twitter following of the entire NRA. It makes financial sense to be on the side of the angels.
Of course cynics suggest the youngsters will be no long-term match for America’s well-funded and deeply embedded gun lobby, which has for centuries managed to connect the assertion of individual rights with the business of owning and using a gun. But the gun lobby is clearly rattled. According to the New York Times, the NRA has launched an all-out smear campaign to discredit the teenage leaders, accusing survivor David Hogg of being a “crisis actor” and tweeting that the 17-yearold is a “pawn” coached to deliver anti-gun messages by his father, a former FBI agent – a claim endorsed by Donald Trump Jr.
Hogg’s riposte on radio this weekend was simple yet devastatingly effective. Indeed in five words he may have helped create a permanent realignment in American politics. “You might as well stop now,” he told his gun lobby opponents. “We’re going to outlive you.” Long before that happens, of course, they will become voters. Indeed, worryingly for Trump, almost all these young campaigners will be voting and even conceivably organising to stand a candidate at the next presidential election.
The NRA has further reason to be scared: just 10 days after the shooting that killed 17 pupils and teachers, corporate sponsors have ditched the NRA in unprecedented numbers and this weekend the teenagers have called on other students across America to boycott the Sunshine State as a holiday destination until Congress passes sensible gun control legislation.
It’s extraordinary. A small group of pupils have kept the world’s attention focused on American gun violence and its prevention for almost a fortnight – a focus that’s not been achieved in the aftermath of any other mass shooting in recent American history. But these tech-savvy, articulate youngsters are using the horror of the school shooting to focus attention beyond the drama to the real, overlooked, educational needs of their generation. Trump’s suggestion of arming teachers was ably rebutted by a pupil-produced list of the things their teachers really need, which included “updated school books, updated technology, up-to-date maps and visual aides, tissues, hand sanitiser, pencils and support from parents and the school board”.
Of course, any campaign beyond gun control may cause the pupils’ firm grasp to weaken, but they are mounting a fundamental challenge to adult spending and political priorities in the world’s most unequal country. In a much less graphic way, the same thing is happening in Scotland too.
Last week, North Lanarkshire made it onto television network news, as the Labour-run council declared it will offer school lunches to pupils all year round. If the full council approves the scheme tomorrow the Food 365 programme will be piloted in Coatbridge during the Easter break and rolled out in time for the summer holidays. It’s the first scheme of its kind in the UK – the first time a council has stepped beyond its own educational remit to fix the shameful problem of hunger, which drastically limits the ability to learn. Even though this is not their fault or responsibility, Scottish councils are not quibbling but acting, at a time of considerable budget pressure, to put the interests of children first. Glory be. Indeed budgets set across Scotland last week showed other councils have had the same idea – Glasgow City Council extended its free school meals to all children in primary 4 and set aside £2 million for hot meals outside term time.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government plans to double free childcare by 2020 and sort out problems accessing the childcare that’s on offer because of limited funding, staffing and opening hours.
Now of course the combative nature of our political system means this long overdue shift of cash and social policy will be thick with criticism and pointscoring. Yet the mental health of parents and the emotional resilience of children depend on cross-party support for a new system of pre-school childcare which has the potential to right another wrong and get the next generation outdoors, away from formal settings and learning through play during their formative years of school. A government grant of £860,000 was announced last week for Inspiring Scotland, an organisation that promotes outdoor learning for nursery children. They’ll work with eight local authorities to deliver pilots and create a “how to” guide that encourages all schools to use outdoor space. It’s a small start financially, but Education Secretary John Swinney spent three hours at a gathering of senior health and education managers last week, which suggests the Scottish Government may soon make a bolder statement backing international conventions that enshrine a child’s right to play. Really, though, the Scottish Government’s interest simply reflects what’s happening on the ground as pioneers in outdoor nurseries and forest schools report massive demand for their services.
That way the next generation can learn to cooperate and help one another and develop confidence in their own motor skills by encountering small risks and succeeding in small physical adventures before they ever tackle the three Rs.
Compared with the gun-challenging teenagers of Florida, this sounds like small beer. But changing the attitudes of parents and officials towards play-based early learning will be no less revolutionary – and no less transformational.