Debate 7

 Debate 7 was about queer rights in schools. How should discrimination be dealt with? CULT I chose for radical change, including an encouragement for school to let go of the gender binary, by for example, including gender neutral bathrooms. 

The debate was quite fierce, with comments flying across the room. A lot of direct responses were made about the gender neutral bathrooms, including some complaining about how Barlaeus-boys treat their bathrooms...

A very strong, emotional, summation closed off the debate and with that the session has closed, with another resounding 38 votes in favor!!!

Stay tuned for the last post

Debate VI

 The next debate is on LIBE I: fake news, what to do with it? The delegates from this committee spend yesterday trying to figure this out. The result? The committee proposes AI technology to protect citizens from fake news, an EU-standard for fact checking, and harsher regulation on social media companies. 

After a powerful opening speech from the proposing committee and two insightful position speeches from their peers, the debate broke loose. Naturally in these days, AI was a controversial solution. Multiple points were made about the environmental consequences of the new technology. A few delegates even went so far as to propose a new solution, in which human specialists take over the AI's job. The proposing committee responded with a realistic answer: only an AI can do so much work in so little 

Regulating social media companies also proved to be quite a difficult topic for the delegates to agree on. Questions arose about the focus on social media as well. Is fake news limited to social media, after all? While the delegates could probably continue discussing this topic forever, but eventually, it was time. 

Two wonderful summation speeches closed the debate off, leaving only voting to be done. And even though this topic led to fierce debate, a resounding 38 votes in favor decided the debate.

Debate number 5!

 With an invigorating lunch in their bellies, the delegates begin their fifth round of debate! JURI presents their resolution on how to ensure the rights of LGBTQIA+ families and urges to create a harmonious legislation across all EU Member States, spread awareness throughput a younger audience and put funds aside for platforms that support LGBTQIA+. 

Immediately after an insightful opening speech about these pressing matters, the floor is open for debate and the delegates do not hesitate to question the resolution’s effectiveness. Koen doubts the coordination of certification for LGBTQIA+ families across Member States as stated in operative clause one. Moreover, other delegates, such as Sophia, worry about JURI’s proposal to process cases within a limited time frame, as some precarious situations require more time. Multiple delegates also find the idea to create a new social media platform will not change anything. 

JURI immediately clears up that they are striving for a sound foundation of LGBTQIA+ support, so that it will be easier in the long term to help rainbow families. Also, to clarify the platform debate, JURI says that a platform is not strictly synonymous with social media. 

After a few rounds of debate and explanatory responses from the proposing committee, Charlotte and Bink close this debate with a spectacular summation speech. And with that, they manage to convince the delegates to vote in favour. 

Let’s see how LIBE I will follow this tough act!

Debate quatre

The last debate before lunch, will the delegates have enough energy left? It's time for ENVI I. The topic concerns itself with flooding caused by climate change. To solve this urgent issue, ENVI I calls for Member States to invest and help each other to implement flooding prevention methods, raising citizens' awareness about what to do during a flooding and protecting those most vulnerable.

Starting off with a lovely opening speech by the proposing committee. Throughout the debate, a main issue was the achievability of plans like raising awareness, especially regarding the acute risk that a flood brings with it. Casper mentioned this specially relating to the development of renewed flood management. In their response, ENVI I, stressed the importance of education and raising awareness in light of rising climate denialism. Femke questioned a combative approach to flooding. "We should let the water flow", she said, highlighting the importance of an approach that works with nature instead of against it.  The proposing committee promptly responded with "then we all drown, that's also better for the environment". 

A fine summation speech reminded us of why this topic is important and how ENVI I wants to set things right. The convincing set of proposals led to a resounding vote in favor!

Lunch time!

Debate numero tres

Next up is DROI. This committee is on the increasingly violent human smuggling happening in and around the EU. At the same time, anti-smuggling legislation often harms refugees. DROI worked to find the following solutions to this difficult challenge. Firstly, it wants to have a strict legal definition of smuggling and refugees, then it proposes investing in local NGO's to reduce the stigma around refugees, and lastly it urges wants to heavily increase funding to human rights control.

The debate started off with a fiery opening speech that had everyone hooked. During the rounds of open debate, the most challenging part of this debate proved to be pronouncing DROI correctly... Commonly made points were concerned with the long bureaucratic processes that these plans would result in. Additionally,  Abel made a point about the importance of dividing the potential burden from taking in refugees across Member States. Thalia critiqued the resolution for being too light on human smugglers, but the defending committee defended itself by claiming the opposite. 

A motived summation speech by Kick, highlighting the relevance of the topic with passion managed to convince enough delegates to vote in favor!

Time for debate number 4

A second debate

Our second debate, on LIBE II's resolution, was about the increasing threat of election interference through social media weakening European democracies. The committee aimed to solve this issue by increasing quality education, forcing social media companies, and expanding EU diplomacy to minimize misinformation from Russia, China, and the US. 

Zara Sophia started off the debate with a defense speech delivered convincingly, stressing the importance of this topic. Afterwards, position speeches about a lack of clarity in LIBE II's resolution set the tone for the debate. During the rounds of open debate, points were raised about the reliability of social media companies, the effectiveness of EU diplomacy, a possible hypocrisy in calling out dictatorships outside of the EU, while Hungary is a Member State. Onka made a point about the effectiveness of education and transparency, stating that trust in politics in the Netherlands is low even though we already have these. 

After a final point from DROI, it was time for the summation. Despite a bit of time stress, a serious and direct summation speech and a great resolution managed to convince 30 delegates to vote for LIBE II!

The first debate!

Our very first debate of the day was on a resolution by the CULT II committee, concerning artistic freedom in light of governmental subsidies of the arts. Briefly, the committee called for neutral actors to be involved in the process, regulation regarding funding, protection of freedom of speech, while limiting extremism in artistic expression. 

The debate started off strong with a clear and passionate defense speech by Sophia, explaining her committee's plans in detail, through the example of Henk, an underpaid artist. LIBE I and DROI delivered challenging position speeches, but these were defended effectively.

During the rounds of open debate, it got fiery very quickly. Points were raised on the importance of freedom of speech, efficiency and transparency. Hugo raised an interesting point on reliability of trusting Member States to be the main actor solving these problems, while Kerem raised a point on the reliabillity of "neutral" actors.

Despite emotional summation speech calling on us to remember Henk from the opening speech, the resolution did not convince enough delegates to pass, with votes being 20-27. However, it is clear that the resolution was made with a lot of effort and commitment!

On to the next one!

Almost there...

 Everyone is ready to go: delegates are sitting down, the jury are preparing their sheets, the journos are ready to make photos: the session is opened!

Good god

Fastest group of delegates ever! By 8:30, all committee rooms looked like normal classrooms again, the luggage was downstairs, yoghurt with red fruit and cruesli went down a treat, and we still have half an hour before the General Assembly. Lots of last minute fine tuning of speeches going on right now and then it is time for the moment we have all been waiting for: GA2026!

See you in a bit! Margriet

A troublesome morning...

Goodmorning everyone! 

We hope you had a wonderful night's sleep, because we struggled. With a full-on dance battle going on yesterday night and all the stress for the General Assembly today, sleep probably was not the delegates biggest priority...

Yesterday night, every committee had the chance to show their dance prepared throughout the day. In a battle between the officials and delegates, Margriet had to make a difficult decision: who gets to be the winner. Everyone danced their heart out, but the eventual winners were the delegates!

Now, as the first delegates are slowly coming down for breakfast, they are nervous, finalizing their speeches, and excited for what's to come. 

So, we hope to see you here or otherwise, keep looking at the blog for live updates on the debates!

Speechwriting

Now that the everyone's work is public, it is time to write some speeches. The delegates need to be well prepared for the big debate tomorrow. They're reading the work of their peers, researching other topics, trying to find the most affective phrases, and listening to great music. 

                              

To see what they come up with, visit the big debate tomorrow! 

Diner with a result!

Hi everyone, I hope you didn't miss us too much! 

The delegates just finished dinner made by our lovely orga's, who made a giant pot of Roti for us. During dinner, the delegates played games, discussed their topics with those from other committees, and often asked for a second portion. 

While this was going on, behind the scenes, our organization was running around attempting to print 100 booklets before dinner was over. These booklets are the result of everyone's hard work today. In them, 7 motions for a resolution (just like those from the actual European Parliament) are printed each one attempting to solve it's particular issue.

The debates start tomorrow!

Een updatetje tussendoor...het journo-team werkt hard aan de foto's die constant worden geüpdatet. We zijn wel benieuwd wat jullie ervan vinden, dus laat vooral leuke reacties achter :-)

 

Committee work has started! The delegates have finally started to work on their resolution. For the rest of the day, they will work on identifying and solving important European issues, from queer rights to environmental challenges. Right now they're focusing on Introductory Clauses, in simple words, what is going on. 

Having had a filling lunch, they put their thinkings caps back on and went to back to work.  On to finding solutions!

Adventures Outside...

After their break, the delegates were surprised by a trip outside. Getting some air was lovely, but why did they leave the building?

Well, it was time for more games! While some people reared their heads at 80 young people in a huge circle on the Leidseplein, we sure had a lot of fun. 

Additionally, the first interviews of the day were done. See the results in the after movie tomorrow!

Getting familiar

Now it's for teambuilding! To get comfortable with each other, the delegates played games and had to solve some difficult problems. Sometimes they had to solve Ischa's murder mystery, while others had to find a way to untangle themselves. From animal sounds to chasing each other, the delegates are quite busy. 

Now its break time!

A Grand Opening

And we have started! All delegates have arrived and have just participated in General Teambuilding. To get rid of all the nerves, we started off by playing some lovely games in the gym hall. 

Having played an exciting game of rock, paper, scissors with 80 people, the delegates split up in their committees and started teambuilding. 

Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

The beginning

Good morning everyone! As the officials are waking up and the first delegates are arriving, it seems that the 15th installment of BYP is finally starting. Everyone is a bit tired but excited for a fun, and educational weekend. Throughout this weekend, you will be kept up to date by our very own journo team! So keep reading the blog...commenting and reacting is highly encouraged (in Dutch as well). See you on the next post 

One day!

One day, two nights...food's been ordered, placards have been made, rooms have been allocated, officials are packing their bags to arrive at the Barlaeus at 20.00 tomorrow to prepare the building for you...actually, all we're waiting for is delegates! Prepare like mad for one more day and please remember to bring your deodorants, because it's going to be sweaty...

Five days!

Dear delegates,

Only five more days and BYP will be off and running...time to get your engines started, practise your English, research your own and other resolutions, find your suit, sharpen your pencils & your tongue and in general, prepare yourself for one of the most fatiguing, educating, stimulating, frustrating, communicating and exhilarating weekends of your life.

The officials’ team is looking forward to organizing, boarding, jurying, chairing and journoing for you: now it is up to you to make it worth our while!

Five days. Get ready.

Margriet & Rein

Informatie BYP

Beste leerlingen van klas 4 en ouders,

Zoals jullie misschien weten organiseren we inmiddels alweer zo'n vijftien jaar het Barlaeus Youth Parliament: we volgen daarbij het format van het European Youth Parliament (het Europees Parlement voor en door jongeren uit drieëndertig  - min of meer - Europese landen), waar het Barlaeus de afgelopen eenentwintig jaar aan heeft meegedaan. De Barlaeusdelegatie heeft het zonder uitzondering uitstekend gedaan bij EYP: alle jaren bereikten we de finale, meermaals zijn we als school uitgezonden naar het buitenland voor de tiendaagse internationale sessie gewonnen in o.a. Kiev, Praag, Zagreb en Helsinki. Ook sinds er individueel geselecteerd wordt, doen onze leerlingen het uitzonderlijk goed: vrijwel altijd belanden we in de top 3 en mogen leerlingen naar fantastische toernooien in het buitenland. Hoewel we daar uiteraard ontzettend trots op zijn, vonden we het jammer dat er per jaarlaag maar acht mensen in aanraking konden komen met EYP. Om dat op te lossen zijn we dus in 2012 overgegaan tot een eigen versie van EYP: het Barlaeus Youth Parliament. 

Ook dit jaar vinden we het belangrijk, ondanks de heftige wallen op de maandag na BYP, dit evenement te organiseren voor onze vierdeklassers en wel op zaterdag 7 en zondag 8 februari 2026. De leerlingen die zich aanmelden voor het BYP worden allen ingedeeld in een committee met een bepaald onderwerp; de bedoeling is dat de deelnemers zich thuis voorbereiden op de onderwerpen (en met name hun eigen onderwerp) door het lezen van een Prepkit en het volgen van de geboden links om zo tijdens het weekend met hun committee gezamenlijk te werken aan de aanval op de andere committees en de verdediging van het eigen onderwerp. Hoewel ik aanval en verdediging zeg, is het European Youth Parliament (en daarmee ook het Barlaeus Youth Parliament) erg gebaseerd op samenwerking, compromissen sluiten en tot oplossingen komen in plaats van via hard debat de zaal overtuigen. Dat moet ook wel, gezien de samenstelling van de Internationale Sessies waarbij sommige zaken in Griekenland of Wit-Rusland minder bespreekbaar of voor de hand liggend zijn dan bij ons.

Het weekend zal bestaan uit een dagdeel Teambuilding (elkaar leren kennen en vertrouwen) en twee dagdelen Committeework (onderling bespreken van de resoluties en schrijven van de speeches) op zaterdag 7 februari en twee dagdelen General Assembly (het debat waarin alle stellingen aan de orde komen) op zondag 8 februari. De deelnemers slapen op school met hun committees in een lokaal en worden uiteraard voorzien van lunch, ontbijt, diner etc. Het is een zwaar, maar ongelooflijk leerzaam evenement: de leerlingen die bij ons hebben deelgenomen aan B/EYP noemen dit allen één van hun leerzaamste (maar gelukkig ook leukste) activiteiten op het Barlaeus. Ouders van deelnemers krijgen te zijner tijd een uitnodiging om de debatten bij te wonen.

Het weekend vindt plaats onder leiding van mijzelf en Reinier, bijgestaan door zo'n vijfenveertig (oud-) leerlingen, die allen zelf deel hebben genomen aan EYP in de afgelopen jaren. Veel van deze oud-leerlingen hebben inmiddels al kinderen, respectabele banen en/of zijn aan het afstuderen, maar zijn tot mijn grote blijdschap toch bereid hier vrijwillig een weekend voor op te offeren. Zij zullen in de voorbereiding de deelnemers ook al per mail met raad en daad bijstaan.

UIteraard is er een blog: hier zijn ook foto’s te vinden die een aardige indicatie geven van hoe zo'n weekend eraan toe gaat. In de komende periode wordt de blog gevuld met meer informatie; daarnaast zal gedurende het weekend de blog worden bijgehouden door de journos met verhalen, foto's en film. De kosten van het weekend zijn 30 euro, te voldoen bij mij in cash/via een tikkie voor de sluitingsdatum van de aanmelding. Vorig jaar hadden we gelukkig een normale versie, maar twee jaar geleden hebben we voor het eerst (en hopelijk het laatst) ooit niet het minimum aantal deelnemers van 60 weten te behalen. We hebben toen een eendaagse versie georganiseerd, maar gezien de enorme inzet van oud-leerlingen die van heinde en verre komen, het feit dat we in een dag op geen enkele manier bereikten wat wij willen bereiken, doen we dat niet nog een keer. Mochten zich dus minder dan 60 leerlingen opgeven gaat het weekend niet door.

Aanmelden kan tot dinsdag 11 november, 12.35 uur via deze link; leerlingen die zich hebben aangemeld ontvangen eind november alle informatie om zich voor te bereiden. We behouden ons overigens het recht voor om leerlingen op basis van gedrag of cijfers te weigeren: ook Reinier en ik draaien dit weekend en alle organisatie vooraf volledig vrijwillig, dus we zitten niet te wachten op een weekend politieagent spelen.

Ik loop de komende dagen nog even de klassen langs voor vragen. We hopen uiteraard weer op een massale aanmelding! Vragen als altijd welkom via mbosman@barlaeus.nl.