"If they can't do it, neither can I."

Marco, 17 years old, blind since birth, could not go on a field trip with his classmates last May. The two support teachers at the Turin institute were not available and the educator at the Institute for Research, Training and Rehabilitation, Irifor, who looks after him, was not allowed to accompany him. The only viable solution was for one of the parents to go on an excursion with him. But as mothers and fathers of teenagers know well, such a choice would have been too embarrassing. So Marco stayed at home. In February, on the other hand, it had been the turn of Sofia (not her real name), who had been unable to go on a study trip to Spain, despite the fact that her father had offered to accompany her. In this case, the secondary school did not even open the door to what is called 'reasonable accommodation'.

If a couple of episodes like these earn the honour of the headlines because of the complaints of families, there are hundreds of situations every school year in which the right to study and equal opportunities of children and young people with disabilities is trampled underfoot. Laws, funding, school regulations can do much but not everything. And in an imperfect situation like the Italian one, people continue to make the difference: the headmaster who takes responsibility for making decisions, the support teacher who keeps up to date and works in close contact with family and specialists, the school staff who understands the situations and supports the teaching staff.

But there is another actor who remains in the background, as if not called upon. This is well told by Nico Acampora, founder of PizzAut, who denounced how his son in ninth grade had to wait two months before he had a support teacher and was therefore able to go to school regularly. "The fault is also a bit yours, because when it happens that a child with disabilities cannot come to school or have the opportunities of other students, you don't raise your hand and say: 'headmaster, if he can't do it, neither can my son'".

The families of schoolmates pull straight ahead as if the problem does not concern them. When in fact it is precisely at school that the seeds of the society we want to build should begin to be sown. If there were more attention paid to those who have fewer opportunities (be it because of a disability, but also because of special educational needs, poverty or other fragile conditions) we would probably succeed in creating a stronger community that leaves no one behind. Then perhaps we should all do the exercise of raising our hands and saying when it happens 'if he can't do it, neither can I'. Only then can Article 3 of the Italian Constitution really make sense. For everyone.