Education and youth

De Nieuwe Politiek observes that schools are not effectively addressing bullying and exclusion. A clear anti-bullying protocol is needed in which
the school stands alongside the bullied student. Far too often, we see that the bullied student is excluded and removed from
the class as a form of so-called “protection,” while the bully is left undisturbed. However, the bully must be removed in order
to cleanse the toxic environment. The bully requires extra care to determine the reasons for this behavior.
In the meantime, the bullied student and the entire class can be guided to return to a safe learning environment to which
every student is entitled.

Every child has a right to good and safe education. And schools provide far too little of that. For here, too, market forces are at play,
even though this is a fundamental right of children. Schools purchase teaching materials and are forced to buy new
resources and methods year after year. Because that is market forces. If you stick to a method for 30 years, the commercial
provider of the teaching material naturally earns nothing. Market forces must be eliminated here as well.

Currently, the municipality has little say over education, but there are opportunities to support school boards in creating a safer and more stable
environment in which students can learn better. In our view, the children's language and arithmetic levels
will then also improve.

Furthermore, we observe that street design for older children and young adults is completely absent. There is no space for them. For
small children, there are play equipment and playgrounds. But older children are primarily viewed as a nuisance. There must be public spaces for
them as well, where they can spend time, hang out, be themselves, and be protected from the rain and
wind.