Last Saturday, the second edition of CADE Escolar took place, an event organized by IPAE Acción Empresarial that brought together 516 fourth and fifth high school students from different corners of the national territory. As in the first edition, held last year, the students attended presentations and workshops on leadership, active citizenship and the role of adolescents in building the country. The idea is that, through activities aimed at, for example, combating harassment and promoting respect, they learn about inspiring experiences of student leaders and businessmen.
If last year we welcomed the existence of a space like this, where the commitment to democracy is worked on from an early age, this time we must note that we consider the initiative doubly successful due to the situation in which it is framed. This is, after the dramatic and violent events that occurred at the Naval High School and in coincidence with the measures recently ordered by the Executive to restore authority and discipline in schools. It is also a complementary effort to that of other CADEs, such as the university, aimed at a somewhat larger population.
It is because of this positive opinion on the reasons that motivate it that El Comercio has participated in the two editions of the event carried out so far. Both in CADE Escolar 2025 and this year, in fact, this newspaper has led the “Writing in action” workshop, in which various teams of young people, assisted by journalists from El Comercio, prepare and deliver a journalistic video to be posted on social networks, and which a jury evaluates. On this occasion, the theme of the works was “United for a healthy school coexistence”, and the winning team’s video dealt with the respect that victims of bullying deserve and included figures from SíseVe and statements from experts in mental health and law.
We are speaking, therefore, in general, of an important endeavor for which IPAE must be congratulated and which hopefully other media and companies will soon join. As we commented a year ago, Peru needs citizens committed to democracy and public policies that promote prosperity. And there is no better way to ingrain such commitments in them than by associating them with the maturation process of young people. We look forward with enormous expectation to the celebration of CADE Escolar 2027 next year.
