"Our small step - to bring smiles to homes around the world"

Grand Prix winners of the 3rd World Environmental Student Summit　

Hanako Suzuki, 1st year student at Keio University

Profile

A first-year student in the Department of Law at Keio University's Faculty of Law. Aware of the issue of child abuse, she founded the student group Little Orange while in high school and hosted a "symposium where experts and junior and senior high school students discuss child abuse prevention." The event was a fulfilling one, with 100% participant satisfaction. Since then, she has continued her activities while exploring the feasibility of practical childcare education. Her hobbies are reading, cooking, and watching movies.

What motivated me to take the stage?
　After a friend of mine took the stage, I decided to speak as well. There are three main reasons for my decision. First, I wanted to raise awareness about the current situation surrounding child abuse in Japan. Currently, child consultation centers are understaffed, and abused children are unable to seek help voluntarily. Furthermore, in the United States, there are systems in place for people to learn how to raise children from a young age, such as being able to work part-time as a babysitter. However, in Japan, there is a lack of practical childcare education for the entire population, especially middle and high school students, making it difficult for parents to suddenly start raising children. I want to spread awareness of these issues in Japan and take action, starting with what I can do.
　Secondly, I wanted objective opinions on my own goals and the steps to achieve them. As a result of actually speaking on stage, I received opinions from people my age who were worried about the lack of practical childcare education in Japan. I hope that many people will continue to watch my videos.
　Finally, I wanted to find people who would support my activities. As a result, I found friends who enthusiastically shared my desire to "change the status quo" and organizers who warmly supported me, which was very encouraging.

We want to provide practical child education to junior and senior high school students.
　The content of the presentation was based on the SDGs' theme of "Quality Education for All," and proposed a solution to child abuse, an issue that he feels is a social issue, by providing practical child education, primarily to junior and senior high school students. In the presentation, he explained why abuse is a problem in the first place and what the underlying issues are, using concrete figures.
　Specifically, we are considering a one-month program for practical child education. The program will be held four times a month, allowing participants to gain knowledge and experience in childcare. The first session will feature a child psychologist from a child consultation center, who will discuss children's feelings. The second session will feature a parent with actual childcare experience, who will share stories of difficult experiences and how they overcame them. The third session will feature a childcare worker, who will review the necessary preparations and precautions for childcare. The fourth session will provide participants with an opportunity to actually visit a childcare center and care for their child. While the program is open to all ages and genders, we are particularly welcoming middle and high school students and those who cannot disclose their pregnancy. This is because those who are publicly aware of their pregnancy will receive parenting tips in family classes, but those who are not will not. Therefore, we hope to create a space that is open to a wide range of people from a variety of backgrounds.

Rewarding and hardships related to the activity
I found it extremely rewarding to create an opportunity for everyone to think about the issue of abuse together. When I was in high school, I founded the student group Little Orange and hosted a symposium where experts and junior and senior high school students discussed abuse prevention. At the symposium, we were able to explore the problem of abuse through the opinions of not only junior and senior high school students but also experts, and the students said, "It was good to learn more about it," while the experts said, "I was glad to hear the opinions and thoughts of junior and senior high school students."
　One of the challenges I faced was finding a way to empathize with the feelings of parents, as I have no experience raising children myself. I was encouraged by the words I heard at a meeting with MAKERS UNIVERSITY U-18, a group of young people who are aware of the current situation and are taking action, saying, "It is those without actual experience who can change the current situation." Since then, I have been acting with the belief that "it is important to make the decision to change now."

Future prospects
　We would like to provide practical childcare education and spread it to other areas. To that end, we will find collaborators and actively work towards this goal.
　When I become a parent myself, I want to encourage my children to freely pursue what they want. As with anything, I believe the most important thing is not to force your own beliefs on them.

message
　When I face difficulties, I try to step away from the past and start again from scratch. I believe that it is important to reconsider what you believe and what you want.

Student Newspaper WEB July 2, 2021 Interview by Nang Honey Aung, 3rd year student at Waseda University

Kota Yamagata, Director of the World Environmental Student Summit

　The World Environmental Student Summit is a forum for junior high school to university students to give seven-minute presentations and share their ideas with the world. The first three summits were held under the concept of a summit for students, by students, and were attended by students from six countries and regions around the world, with a total of 65 entries.

    This Global Environmental Student Summit is being held as an online forum where students, regardless of size, who want to share their efforts and thoughts on the SDGs can participate from anywhere.

    So, what I want students to know is to let go of the limitations of being a "child" or an "adult" and to move forward towards what they want to do and their aspirations.

    For example, in India, environmental activist Lycypria Kangujam was just nine years old when she started speaking out to adults about environmental issues.

    Awareness of the SDGs is currently on the rise in Japan, but unless we can go beyond just knowing about them and put them into action, we risk moving towards an environment that is uninhabitable. I personally feel that there are still many students who share this passion. I will create an environment where such wonderful students can more easily share their ideas, so I hope that we can all share our ideas together, make irreplaceable friends, and take a step towards building a world in which no one is left behind.

■ Introduction of the management team

Haruka Yamaji
3nd year high school
https://youtu.be/HE-X1G0bH-k

Hirai Suzuna
2nd year college
https://youtu.be/w8rM2aqBP9E