Political Speeddating: Students ask Bundestag candidates holes in the stomach!

On January 9, 2025, students from the Immanuel Kant School in Reinfeld have the opportunity to exchange ideas with direct candidates and representatives of seven parties as part of a political speed dating. The Bundestag elections are finally imminent on February 23.

The format of speed dating clearly differs from a classic panel discussion and allows the students to ask questions directly to the politicians. Among other things, Bettina Hagedorn from the SPD, Mayra Vriesema of Bündnis 90/The Greens, Kim Christin Holzmann von Volt, Sebastian Schmidt from the CDU, David Gutzeit from the Free Voters, Tobias Maack from the FDP and Arnulf Fröhlich from Afd.

interactive discussion and variety of topics

The teacher Carlotta Zentgraf encourages the students to actively ask questions. These take the opportunity to address various political issues. Hagedorn comments on the election of Donald Trump and current social injustices, while Schmidt focuses on the topics of asylum and migration policy and social housing. Maack emphasizes the importance of education and uniform Abitur standards.

David Gutzeit takes on pension financing and reduction in bureaucracy, while Vriesema pronounces for the inclusion of civil servants in statutory health insurance. Holzmann explains the position of his party on asylum policy and study financing. Björn Höcke's politics happily defends. Overall, the event is considered a success.

Another example of a political speed dating took place in the Charlotte-Paulsen-Gymnasium. There, pupils discussed many relevant topics with Bundestag President Bärbel Bas and her vice, including artificial intelligence, international politics and refugee policy. MPs change the table after a gong to discuss various questions.

In September 2024, students discussed with MPs in Hamburg and asked them about the moral justice of Israel's support in the current conflict. Aydan Özoguz from the SPD emphasized Germany's responsibility in this context, while Petra Pau made the attention of the right background from the left and emphasized the importance of education and prevention. Yvonne Magwas spoke about the prevention of right -wing populist currents.

At this event, students gave the suggestion to actively position themselves against agitation on the net on platforms such as Tiktok. In the end, the participating students summed up that the time for the discussions was far too short. Bundestag President BAS praised the selection of topics and asked the students to continue to be politically involved.