Mayor John Tory met with a number of elementary school students on Tuesday morning as part of an effort to learn more about the issues that are affecting the city’s youngest residents.

The hour-long meeting with several Grade 4 and Grade 5 classes at city hall was held in conjunction with National Child Day.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Tory said that while he visits classrooms with some regularity the session provided him with a more formal opportunity to hear directly from children on issues affecting them, which may otherwise be overlooked.

“They look at the world through more sophisticated eyes than might have been the case 20 years ago and they have really good ideas,” he said. “It just reminds you of the fact that for the future we have to make sure we make the arrangements now for green space, for safe cities, for adequate recreational programs and for good jobs. They sort of raised all that.”

During the hour-long meeting inside city hall’s committee room, Tory fielded questions on everything from public transit, to community safety and whether he ever gets a day off.

He said that he was eager to hear from children on their experience with the city’s transit system, especially amid some research suggesting that students “don’t feel entirely comfortable” when riding the TTC.

Meanwhile, Tory said that he was surprised to hear a number of questions about community safety and believes that the concern further underlies the importance of keeping the streets safe. The city has seen a surge in gun violence this year with a record 91 homicides so far in 2018.

“I think we probably think that is something adults are paying attention to but probably not so much kids. But it is all the more reason that we have to work to keep the city safe,” Tory said.