Democracy Education in Ramallah School: Children Vote for King of the Jungle

Following are excerpts from a TV report on democracy education at a school in Ramallah, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on May 31, 2013:

Reporter: At the Friends School in Ramallah, the children of the lower school have been preparing for weeks to elect a new king for the jungle to replace the lion. Several days before the elections, each child received a ballot, and the elections campaign of the various candidates began.

School staff member: Children grow up in keeping with what they are taught at a young age. Here, they learn to be involved, to express their opinions, to make decisions, to research, and to learn. We cannot start teaching them these things only when we believe they are ready.

Reporter: An elections committee was formed by family members, and the children themselves formed an appeals committee. Several animals, such as the dinosaur, were disqualified. Eventually, five animals ran for office: the dolphin, the elephant, the crocodile, the eagle, and the bear.

Student at Friends School: If the dinosaur were to be elected, there would be no king for the jungle, because there are no dinosaurs.

Reporter: The elections procedures emulated adult ones – complete confidentiality and strict instructions. Anyone who did not abide by these rules was not allowed to vote.

Another student: I didn't vote.

Reporter: Why not?

Student: So that there wouldn't be anarchy among the animals over who would be king of the animals.

Reporter: The school conducts these elections annually in order to instill the spirit of democracy among the small children. The school management is trying to spread this experiment to other schools.

The voting is over, and the ballots are being counted. The children underwent some difficult moments until the results were announced, and the dolphin was crowned the new leader. Most of the children were happy, while some took it to heart. Everyone, however, accepted the results.

[...]