LinkedIn·Tuesday, 4 August 2026·22d ago

"If you're only not being oppressed when you behave, you are being oppressed." A teenager said that. In a school focus group. About their…

CollectiveUP

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"If you're only not being oppressed when you behave, you are being oppressed." A teenager said that. In a school focus group. About their own daily reality. This summer, as part of our FutureEd project with ALLI asbl and EUDEC - European Democratic Education Community – European Democratic Education Community, we sat down with Belgian youth to talk about human rights, democracy and digital rights at school. No prepared answers, no adult filters. What we heard was sharper than most policy papers: ✔ Rights start small — sometimes with whether a school makes sure every child has lunch ✔ "Neutral" dress codes can be quietly targeted at certain religions ✔ Student councils too often exist "for show" — while real participation transforms how young people see school ✔ Digital rights, to them, means one thing above all: privacy in an age of monitored screens and school platforms Tomorrow on our blog, we share what these young people told us — anonymously, in their own words — and what it means for anyone designing education today. Their insights are feeding directly into three practical FutureEd guides for schools, educators and parents, coming throughout August. 🇧🇪 🇱🇺 🇩🇪 August is FutureEd month at CollectiveUP. Follow along — and if your school or organisation wants to bring genuine youth voices into its practice, our door is open. 📰 Blogpost live tomorrow on https://lnkd.in/dhfJGW3r FutureEd is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. #FutureEd #YouthVoice #RightsCentredEducation #DigitalRights #DemocraticEducation #ErasmusPlus #Education #ChildrensRights #CollectiveUP