The campaign to demilitarize education rejects the presence of the Armed Forces in the Salón de la Educación of Barcelona.

•Entities, unions and NGOs remember the values of solidarity, respect and equality, which are not consistent in the army’s characteristics

 

Barcelona, March 20, 2015 – The Campaign Demilitarize Education. Weapons don’t educate, weapons kill, has been present for the fifth year in a row, in the Salón de la Educación of Barcelona, to protest their rejection to presence of the of the armed forces in this event. The campaign, started up in a wide platform of entities, union and NGOs, considered that the Salón de la Educación should be a consistent space with its educative character, where they emphasize the values of an democratic education like solidarity, respect and equality.

The presence of the Armed Forces in this event contributes to normalize the army as an alternative of the future of the students, extending the idea that is a humanitarian organization dedicated for a peaceful solution to conflicts. However, The Campaign Demilitarize Education wants to remind that violence is the principal method used by the army to get their objectives.

The campaign has gained a resounding success in social media. In previous days and in the first session of the Salón, #SalónSenseExéricit has been the second most used, only beaten by the official hashtag of the Salón.

The duty of institutions is to encourage the concepts of culture, science, diversity or coexistence. In this sense, it considered fundamentally that new generations get to know and develop peaceful methods for the solution of conflicts and discard the violence as an alternative way to guarantee the security of people.