Youth advocacy groups are advocating for the provision of complimentary InterRail passes for young people as a response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The Green Party in the German Bundestag has presented a position paper, calling for action to address the mental health of children and adolescents affected by the pandemic. The paper, drafted by Katrin Göring-Eckardt, Ekin Deligoğlu, and Maria Klein-Schmeink, highlights the severe consequences of lost teaching time and missed events like birthdays, school trips, and graduation parties on the health and psyche of children and young people.
In an effort to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, the Greens have proposed a series of measures aimed at supporting sports clubs, providing leisure activities for families, and offering travel opportunities for young people.
The Greens argue that travel is crucial for young people to look beyond their own horizons and experience something new. They believe that offering such opportunities would be valuable for young people to catch up on missed experiences and for families to take a break. To this end, the party has called for the federal government to allocate a special budget to each municipality for the development of leisure activities for families.
Amateur sports clubs should also receive special budgets for summer camps, and should be allowed two rapid tests per week and child, the paper suggests. The Greens believe that these measures would not only benefit the physical health of young people, but also contribute to their mental wellbeing.
In addition, the Greens have proposed offering free Interrail tickets to 18-year-olds who turned 18 during the pandemic. This initiative aims to allow young people to explore Europe in a corona-compliant manner, providing them with new experiences and a sense of independence.
The paper also acknowledges the struggles faced by many families during the pandemic. It reports that many families simply have no energy left due to the pandemic, and emphasizes the importance of offering holiday vouchers for low-income families without bureaucracy or offsetting against social benefits.
The Greens' position paper does not mention any specific budgets allocated for the proposed measures. However, they stress that the responsible implementation would be a federal government task, likely involving health and youth ministries, although specific agencies are not detailed in the available results.
The proposed leisure activities may include open-air concerts, children's theaters, or family workshops, among others. The Greens hope that these initiatives will help to boost the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, and provide much-needed respite for families.
The Green Party faction in the German Bundestag has also sought visibility for widespread illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, and anorexia nervosa, and asked the federal government about further plans beyond the existing "Mental Health for Young People" strategy. They aim to ensure that the mental health of children and young people remains a priority in the post-pandemic world.
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