In the fan magazine or “fanzine”, the product of a workshop with 22 minors from four municipalities in Jalisco, a western state of Mexico, the children expressed that they need schools to understand their situation and to stop stigmatizing people missing.
“We need them not to judge us and people who disappear”, “we need to feel safe, not be afraid”, “I want the school to take care of me, for the teacher to understand that sometimes I can’t concentrate”, “that do not speak ill of the disappeared persons in the news and on the street”, “support us in the marches”, are some of the phrases expressed by those who participated in the workshop.
(Yerania Rolón Rolón/Cuartoscuro)
The publication is published in the midst of the crisis of disappearances in Mexico, which last year exceeded the historical figure of more than 100,000 people not located since there was a record, with the state of Jalisco in the first places.
Virgen affirmed that minors know the situation their relatives are going through, but they do not feel listened to by adults despite the fact that they want to know more about the problem and assert their opinion.
“When asked what they needed: (they responded) to listen to me. Sometimes they did not even need answers, just to know that their questions, their emotions are valid, that they have doubts and (want) to be seen, that they are there and that they are also experiencing this, ”he said.
Rosa María Quezada, mother of a disappeared person and grandmother of one of the girls participating in the publication, pointed out that schools are often indifferent to the situation that children go through, who often feel harassed by their classmates or the teachers themselves. which affects their school performance.
Rocío Martínez, coordinator of the psychosocial area of Cepad, stated that one of the challenges is for girls and boys to be heard by society and educational institutions, in addition to recognizing the impact that the disappearance of a loved one has on their life and those who care for them.
