In Citizens, his account of the French Revolution, Simon Schama wrote how the Jacobins recruited children into ‘relentless displays of public virtues’. These youth affiliates, the ‘Young Friends of the Constitution’, encouraged children to attend sessions at the group’s headquarters in Paris, while ‘throughout France, “Battalions of Hope”, consisting of boys between the ages of seven and 12, were uniformed and taught to drill, recite passages from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and parade before the -citizen-parents in miniature versions of the uniform of the National Guard’.

In Lille, a ‘children’s federation’ was formed, two of whose members, César Lachapelle, aged eight, and Narcisse Labussière, nine, were noted to declare: ‘We will live for our patrie, and our last sighs will be for her… When our parents and teachers boast endlessly of the wisdom of your decrees and when from all parts of France we hear applause for your immortal work, when all of France showers blessings upon your heads, how can our hearts remain insensible? No, Messieurs, recognition and respect know no age.’ They sounded insufferable.

You might call Youth Parliament a way to engage people in politics. You might also call it a grotesque charade

The use of children has been a feature of authoritarian and illiberal regimes down the years, most notoriously during China’s cultural revolutions when teenagers were encouraged to attack teachers, while the recruitment of adolescents has been found across many communist regimes. Last September, far-left extremists at a traditional French riot in Aurillac brought children along, showing them how to throw ‘foam cobblestones’. Sweet.

In contrast, the use of children as political human shields has historically been viewed with discomfort by the more politically moderate, creepy even. Not so much today, where numerous schools have recruited children to bunk off to attend climate protests. At the recent Labour party conference there were dozens of schoolchildren outside, ‘campaigning’ for free school meals, apparently with the blessing of their teachers. In the United States, children have been encouraged to pester politicians over........

© The Spectator