Adults wage war. Is peace then, children’s responsibility?
According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, “the number of civilian deaths in armed conflict soared by 72% in 2023 and “the proportion of women killed in 2023 doubled and that of children tripled.”
“We always feel that our life is under threat”
“They bomb our homes, our schools, and even our hospitals…we always feel that our life is under threat” said a 15-year-old girl from Gaza in November 2024.
In Sudan, also in 2024, writing a poem for “Unicef’s Poems for Peace” initiative, Muzdalifa said:
“This war stole my childhood, extinguished the light of my future, and erased my joy”.
“Paradigms do not change by magic”
In 2015, in Colombia, Gabriela Bucher, of Fundación Plan, declared that if a sustainable peace is desired, it is imperative to include young people who, thanks to their abilities and enthusiasm, are able to help bring about the needed transformations for building peace.
Both Shaheen Mistri, of Teach for India and CLADE – Latin American Campaign for the right to education agree that peace education is vital. “Paradigms do not change by magic…” states CLADE.
“A better world can’t be built’ lying on the couch’ “ Pope Francis told children in 2024.
Teach peace
In Montessori education , inner peace, empathy and respect are encouraged. Conflict resolution is taught and practiced.
In 1964, a School Day of Non-violence and Peace was founded by the Spanish poet Llorenç Vidal Vidal, with “universal love” as the basic message.
Unfortunately, as Nadia Colburn points out in openDemocracy, “our culture is in constant preparation for war and still thinks of young men as potential fodder”.
That’s why Quakers offer ways to respond to the militarisation of schools in the UK.
Paint for peace, pray for peace, clown for peace
To encourage a culture of peace, painting competitions are organised, like the one in Baguio City, Philippines, where Genevieve Balance Kupang told the young artists that “peace starts with you, in your heart”.
Prayer is another way to cultivate peace. In October 2024, over one million children from more than 150 countries took part in a rosary initiative for peace and unity in the conflict zones.
An attractive way to involve children in peace culture is the Children’s Peace Theatre in Toronto.
An even more engaging way to promote peace was found in Colombia. In 2018 the Peace Circus, a three-year initiative was launched, with the goal to help Colombia’s peace process.
Children as artisans of peace
In 1978, John Hunter invented the World Peace Game for fourth graders. “Can your children show us how to do this? Because we’ve not figured it out” says the video shown in the article talking about the game which became renowned. The authors point out that “kids are pretty good at solving the planet’s most pressing problems”.
Children know what world they want: “I dream of a world without wars…” writes Emani , from Türkye .
They also ask for it, like thirteen – year – old Mary Beth Tinker and her brother who, after being punished for protesting the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school, stood firm in a case that led to the guarantee of free speech in public schools.
Kids don’t lack imagination to establish world peace, as was shown at a Children’s World Peace Summit. Ideas range from creating an app, “Peace Beyond” (Thoon Jing Wen from Malaysia) to simply…not start a war by creating a world full of compassion ( Hanon Kawamura, Hiroshima).