Far from the hemicycle in Brussels and away from the eyes of institutional staff, 12- and 13-year-old students are today attending an event entitled “Chi ha paura dell’amore?” (“Who is afraid of love?”).
The initiative is formally sponsored and opened by Italian MEP Carolina Morace (The Left/Five Star Movement), who moderates the two main panels and delivers the institutional closing remarks.
Morace provides the political backing that allows the event to be held within the premises of the Eurochamber.
Italian MEP Giusi Princi (European People’s Party/Christian Democrats), member of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT), also participates as a speaker. Her presence underscores the cross-party nature of the initiative, which includes representation from different political families, from The Left to the EPP.
Italian MP Gilda Sportiello (Five Star Movement) will intervene in one of the panels on educational models.
The programme, organised in collaboration with EDUXO – European Network for Democracy and Equality (a lobby registered in 2024), combines sex education, gender identity frameworks, discrimination prevention, and artistic workshops.
According to documentation accessed by this outlet, the participating students belong to the Italian section of the European School Brussels II, a school mainly attended by children of officials and employees of European institutions. Sources consulted confirm that parents do not have a formal mechanism to exempt their children from the activity.
Among the activities aimed at young teenagers is the workshop “Reagire” (“React”). In this session, students take part in emotional and experiential exercises through the use of a “neutral mask,” creative writing, and structured role-playing dynamics. Students represent the roles of victim, aggressor, or observer in situations of bullying linked to sexual orientation or gender identity.
For older students, the workshop “Capire e rafforzare” (“Understand and Strengthen”) focuses on the analysis of works of art and photographs to “deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices.” Students perform short dramatizations of discrimination dynamics and collectively reflect on their emotions.
The workshop directed at adults, “Educare e ascoltare” (“Educate and Listen”), is aimed at parents and teachers. It includes an interactive dynamic entitled “E tu quanto ne sai?” (“And how much do you know?”), followed by explanatory sessions on concepts related to sexual identity and the promotion of “conscious and respectful language” as a preventive tool.
Among the speakers are writers, television personalities, and LGBT activists.
The European Schools system operates under a specific international convention. Its highest authority is the Board of Governors, composed of representatives of the Ministers of Education of all EU Member States, together with delegates from the European Commission and certain European agencies.
Pedagogical decisions are examined by the Joint Teaching Committee and the Boards of Inspectors before final approval. In other words, curricular frameworks do not result from improvised decisions, but from a supranational governance mechanism in which national governments directly participate.
In the Italian case, teachers are sent by the Italian Ministry of Education, which also financially contributes to the functioning of its section. Each ministry appoints a specific coordinator for the European Schools and participates in regular meetings in Brussels where strategic decisions are validated. Italy also hosts its own European School in Varese.
The event held today within the European Parliament is therefore part of an institutional architecture backed both by the Member States and by EU institutions.
The absence of a formal parental opt-out mechanism constitutes the most sensitive element.
In numerous national education systems, sex education includes detailed prior information and, in some cases, objection mechanisms or academic alternatives. In the European Schools system, decisions adopted by the central bodies are applied uniformly.
Although parents’ associations exist with representation in consultative bodies—including presence in the Board of Governors through InterParents—the capacity to guarantee individual exemptions appears limited.
Several parents expressed concern about the introduction of identity frameworks at age 12 without a clear option of choice. “We are concerned that very specific ideological frameworks are being introduced at such early ages and without any option of choice,” says a mother who prefers to remain anonymous.
Given that many families work within European institutions themselves, some admit that filing formal complaints may be delicate in professional terms.
The line between protection against bullying and the incorporation of controversial ideological frameworks in compulsory contexts becomes blurred, especially when dealing with minors aged 12 and 13 and when the activity takes place within the framework of a political institution such as the European Parliament.
At the political heart of the Union, minors participate in structured sessions on identity, diversity, and stereotypes under institutional auspices. Whether this represents inclusive civic education or institutional overreach is already the subject of public debate—a debate that goes far beyond a single school in Brussels.
