Liceo Giulio Cesare, the meeting with the institutions: 'Right laws but badly applied'
73 per cent of students associate legality with respect for the law, while 70 per cent believe that force is often perceived as more effective than law
In a context in which the issue of legality and trust in institutions returns strongly to the centre of public debate, young people recognise the value of rules, but at the same time show little confidence in their enforcement.
These are just some of the points that emerged from the anonymous questionnaire given to the students of the Liceo Classico Statale Giulio Cesare in Rome, on the occasion of the third edition of the conference 'Legality, justice and the fight against crime'.
The initiative - promoted by the Francesco Mansutti ETS Association - brought together representatives of institutions to build a bridge with students on the issues of legality and civic responsibility through a questionnaire, designed to collect perceptions, doubts and expectations on respect for rules in contemporary society.
The questionnaire
The answers reveal a widespread perception of the difficulties involved in applying the rules in practice. In fact, half of the students believe that laws in Italia are right but poorly applied, while almost a quarter consider them necessary but often unclear. This figure suggests that the problem is not so much the idea of rules per se as the distance between principles and reality.
'Legality means feeling at peace with oneself and the world', were the words of Prof. Paola Severino, President of the Luiss School of Law and former Minister of Justice. During her speech, she also recalled the fundamental role of schools and teachers in the process of forming civic responsibility and transmitting the value of rules.
