In light of the recent event in Aurora Colorado, it behooves us to re-examine the violent nature of our society where all too often the solution to one’s personal hurts seems to be go out and hurt someone else. Why? It’s on the TV, on the movie screen, in the video games: According to the […]
I really can’t, I’m no Mahatma Gandhi
by Tim Wolcott Do you really know Gandhi or even Martin Luther King, Jr.? You may think you do, but I believe that in some cases, we need to demystify our heroes so that we can more easily support their actions. Recently TeachPeaceNow.org was given a little book What Gandhi Says About Nonviolence, Resistance And Courage by […]
Building Bridges of Support
ONE stick – inconsequential… HUNDREDS of sticks – amazing! Last week we asked you to choose ONE thing you could do to make the world a better place. Did you choose one? Do you think it will make a difference? This Bridge of Support was built by elementary students at my school. After watching the PowerPoint […]
Do One Thing
What ONE thing can you do to make the world a better place? There’s an awful lot going on to be depressed about. Our last two rants addressed issues in education that will take concerted effort on the part of millions of us to effect change. Sometimes it seems so overwhelming, it seems easier to just […]
Happy Mother’s Day of Peace
In response to horror of the Civil War and committed to abolishing war everywhere, Julia Ward Howe, author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, wrote a proclamation calling for women to rise up and declare themselves against war and for peace. She called it Mother’s Day of Peace and celebrated the day every June 2 as part […]
A Pledge of Peace
The following Peace Pledge was written by teachers Hillary Squier and Joan Koster for their students. It is intended for young children, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if our world leaders took this pledge too? I pledge respect to everyone Not just to those I know. Family, friends, and neighbors All need my help to grow. […]
Stand Against Racism
Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator and Parent: Debra Van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin in their book The First R : How Children Learn about Race and Racism document a year they spent in an exemplary multicultural preschool listening to three- and four-year-olds talk about skin color and race. What they learned was that even very young children are […]
The Hardwired Emotions
Eric Jensen in Teaching with Poverty in Mind says the emotions children are born with are SADNESS, JOY, DISGUST, ANGER, SURPRISE, and FEAR. What message does this send to teachers and peace educators? The first thing that strikes me is that overwhelmingly the basic emotions we are born with are negative. All the emotional responses […]
Making Beauty for the Earth
Caring for Mother Earth By Tim Wolcott of Teach Peace Now She is respectful, kind and quiet. She often asks before class how I’m doing and/or lingers after class to say goodbye. She isn’t consistent in her quiz or lab grades, and her organization definitely needs improvement. However, I’ve thought more than once how well […]
You Can’t Say You Can’t Play
In every classroom, in every school, in every community there are always insiders and outsiders. When you were in school which were you? In 1992 Vivian Gussin Paley set out to change the social order in her kindergarten classroom. She noticed, as most teachers do, that even when you outlaw hitting and ban name calling, […]
Megan Landry sings “Stronger”
Megan Landry, a 15 year old Canadian, sings about the pain bullying causes in this original song she wrote. Find Megan on Facebook Bullying for girls often takes the form of name calling and put downs that destroy self-image. Learn more at Girls’ Health
Teaching Peace
Working for Peace “It isn’t enough to talk about peace, one must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it, one must work for it.” Eleanor Roosevelt Watch unsupervised children at play and most people will come to the conclusion that human beings are not by nature peaceful creatures. Being peaceful inside oneself […]
