Essential
Organised by the League of Human Rights of Lannemezan, the final of the plea contest brought together over 300 students from middle schools and high schools in the region. In a hall at the Le Régent cinema, students from 3rd grade to final year, from four establishments in the area, delivered performances on topics close to their hearts.
For this second edition, youth engagement took on its full meaning under the spotlight of the great hall of Le Régent. The event organized by Yvette Lesage, president of the League of Human Rights of Lannemezan, involved 22 classes and over 600 students since the beginning of the school year. The novelty of this year: students from 3rd grade at Gaston-Fébus colleges in Lannemezan and Pierre-Mendès-France in Vic-en-Bigorre were able to participate in the contest.
A long-term effort
“It’s a competition that pleases young people,” emphasizes Yvette Lesage, “they choose the themes themselves, they talk about things that interest them, that touch them.” This reflection on the state of human rights was accompanied by a real speech preparation. Students could rely on the valuable help of Christophe Verzeletti, a Tarbes actor. “I help them to be themselves, to work on conviction,” he explains, convinced that sometimes “anger comes from the absence of words.”
Emotional pleas before a diverse jury
Before a multidisciplinary jury bringing together local actors and lawyers, students delivered pleas anchored in societal issues. From the 3rd grade class, Médlyna Routoulp and Elise Castex raised awareness about the impact of social networks: “A child should not learn to hate by looking at his screen.” On the theme of domestic violence, Marie-Lou Allegret-Gallardo (3rd grade) reminded that “no child should be afraid of members of their own family.”
High school students continued this exercise with the same seriousness: the working conditions of “fast fashion” in Asia (Rafael Albacar and Leena Paquis-Stree) and the denunciation of incest (Mélanie Caruzzi) for the second grade classes; inequality of opportunities (Méloé Coppe and Joao Sattler) or the risk of sectarian drifts (Andrew Searby and Mathieu Duprat) for the first grade. Finally, the seniors concluded the debates by addressing the right to a healthy environment (Lucie Delannoy-Ferrand), violence against children (Alais Guitard), or the place of women, summarized by Adélie Plagnot and Lilly Barcikowsky: “Same words, same ideas, but not the same listening.”
Winners
After deliberation, Marie-Lou (3rd grade), Mélanie (2nd grade), Méloé and Joao (1st grade) as well as Alais (senior) won the first prize in their category. An edition that lived up to its promises, with other students trying their luck next year.
