Initiative by the school newspaper and student council Discussion with famous political experts at the Aloisiuskolleg

Bad Godesberg · The school newspaper and the student council of the Ako organised their own talk on the elections in the USA. Former constitutional judge Udo di Fabio and Green Party politician Jürgen Trittin took part.

 The Ako students streamed from the rotunda of the Aloisius College their discussion round on the US election. Photo: Niklas Schröder

The Ako students streamed from the rotunda of the Aloisius College their discussion round on the US election. Photo: Niklas Schröder

Foto: Niklas Schröder

The students of the Aloisius College (Ako) also followed this year's presidential elections in the USA with great interest. Many questions still remain open, however.

One more reason for the Ako students to take a close look at the German-American future. For this reason, the FutureLab organised a discussion round on Saturday evening with prominent experts, which was broadcast live on YouTube and on the FutureLab website. The FutureLab is an initiative of the Ako student newspaper akomag and the high school student council. Twenty-five young people had participated in the project without any influence from teachers or parents - driven solely by their interest in the US election. "Our goal is a democratic education from students for students," said Victor Abs, editorial director of the school newspaper. Abs also moderated the discussion with the participants, Prof. Sabine Sielke and Prof. Ulrich Schlie from the University of Bonn, former constitutional judge Prof. Udo di Fabio, Dr. Benjamin Becker from Amerika Haus NRW and ZEIT correspondent Rieke Havertz.

Viewers could also ask their questions online

After the talk with the experts, the audience could also ask their questions. "Our aim is to inform and involve the audience in the discourse so that everyone can form their own opinion," said Benjamin Glenski (17). The student was responsible for monitoring the technology in the evening. Camera, sound and light was run from his desk.

Pupil Johanna Rohrmann (16) was glad that Biden had made the race. "You wonder what would have happened if Trump had remained president," said the student.

Die ZEIT Correspondent: "Must solve problems on our own doorstep“

Green politician Jürgen Trittin, who joined us with a guest contribution, warned against believing that things would become easier again for Europe under Biden. "Europe must take more responsibility. Global issues should be put to the test and new opportunities should be seized", the politician demanded. Becker agreed with him: "Yes, there are home-made problems between Americans and Europeans, it is not just because of Trump. Schlie suspected that the Biden government would also focus more on American domestic policy. "We Europeans should not delude ourselves and we have to solve the problems on our own doorstep", said the professor of security and strategy research. Havertz observed a divided America after the election.

Student appreciates special expertise

"The rifts between Democrats and Republicans will not disappear that quickly," said the US correspondent for Die ZEIT.

Johanna Rohrmann, who had previously helped with the preparations, was pleased with the professional classification of the topics: "We have top-class people here who have special expertise and can inform us in a completely different way than the media, which usually shows a very one-sided view of things," she said.

Further information: the-future-lab.de

Original text: Niklas Schröder. Translation: Mareike Graepel

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