The issue is almost the same as that of sexual-affective education in schools, seen almost as a tool for raising distorted children with compromised opinions rather than aware adults of the future. In Verbano Cusio Ossola, in the mountains of Piedmont, a school diary designed to help children with specific learning disabilities has become – in just a few days – the symbol of a heated national debate.
The “Diario Amico 2025/2026” ended up at the center of a real controversy, and in particular a story entitled “Blog in Val Formazza Miaoo!!”written by a 12 year old girl from Baveno. His story talks about cows rebelling against farms, about signs with writings like “Don’t exploit us” And “W the fruit”and of a simple desire: freedom.
A message that – in its candor – touched deep chords, but also infuriated many.
What happened
The young author’s story was published as the winner of the “Reading the Mountains” competition promoted by the Territorial School Office. None “ideological selection”, explain the teachers: the text was inserted automatically, as per the regulations.
But the presence of phrases and illustrations against intensive farming sparked protests from trade associations, in particular the National Association for the Protection of the Environment and Rural Life, which accused the school of “brainwashing children”.
In the diary distributed to VCO primary school children, farmers are demonized and cows painted as victims of heartless jailers: a distorted, fanatical and disrespectful narrative of the work of those who live in and protect the territory – we read in the note. Once again, vegan propaganda throws the mask off. It is manipulative, offensive and above all dangerous, because it targets young people with misleading and ideological messages.
The organization has launched a petition to withdraw the Diario Amico from schools, claiming that the contents are “offensive” towards those who work on farms. To date, just over 1,100 signatures have been collected.
While the counter-petition in defense of the Diary collects 17 thousand signatures
On the other hand, the response was immediate: a second petition, this time to defend the young author’s freedom, collected almost 17,000 signatures in just a few days.
The text reads:
With this counter-petition we ask that DIARIO AMICO not be withdrawn and that it can continue to welcome empathetic texts that humanity desperately needs.
The LAV (Anti Vivisection League) also intervened in support:
The Diario Amico – explains Giacomo Bottinelli, head of the School Office – offers a different perspective, from the side of the animals. It is important that school stimulates reflection and does not censor empathic thinking. Only in this way can we build a more aware and respectful society towards all living beings.
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The school: “Error yes, but we will not collect the diary”
After days of controversy, the Verbano Cusio Ossola School Office convened an institutional table with Coldiretti and the agricultural associations. In an official note, the managers acknowledged that “the automatic insertion of the story was a procedural error, but one committed in good faith”. However, they clarified that the diary will not be withdrawn:
Once purchased, it is the property of the students. Removing it would mean unnecessarily exposing the author and denying freedom of expression. We will always defend this principle.
At the same time, the school clarified that parents are free to remove the pages if they wish: “We recognize the legitimacy of both choices.”
Beyond the controversy, this story says a lot about us, about how difficult it is today to talk about animals, empathy and freedom of thought without generating rifts.
A 12-year-old girl imagined cows that no longer want to be exploited. He didn’t do politics, he wrote a fairy tale. Yet that tale moved adults, associations, institutions and the media.
Perhaps, the true value of this story is right here: in the power of the word when it arises from sincerity, and in the right of every young mind to be able to express it without fear.
Sources: National Association for the Protection of the Environment and Rural Life / LAV
