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CSUDH - Habermas - UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: January 31, 2002
Latest Update: February 9, 2002
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Why Peace Education?

by Ian Harris

Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata, Ian Harris, and Individaul Authors, February 2002.
"Fair use" encouraged.

This essay is based on the latest edition of Peacebuilding. The value of peace education far exceeds supporting the efforts of peace bulding professionals. The very process of including peacemaking in our daily discourse and concerns brings a sense of "doing something" that relieves the helplessness and alienation we all feel in the face of violence and conflict.

Ian Harris addresses this very well on p. 2 of Peacebuilding, Volume 3, Issue 3, Winter 2002:

WHY PEACE EDUCATION?
Ian Harris

What is your rationale for peace education? Mine is:

Students who suffer from violence have anxieties that make it hard for them to focus on academic subjects. Many children who are at risk because of violence in their lives suffer from posttraumatic stress disorders. Addressing the sources of this violence through peace education activities in school can improve students’ performance.

Conflict resolution in schools has been shown to improve test scores and cognition. Conflict resolution education consists of helping students resolve their conflicts peacefully, and most often includes peer mediation. It also includes teaching young people positive communication skills that they can use throughout their lives. Teaching students about how to achieve peace empowers them to seek alternatives to violence, so they can build a more peaceful future. It lays the foundation for a culture of peace.

Why don’t you send a rationale for peace education by June 1, 2002, for the next edition of Peacebuilding?

PEACEBUILDING
Volume 3, No 3, Winter 2002
Editor: Ian Harris
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413, Mil. WI 53208 USA
imh@csd.uwm.edu
Subscriptions: $30.00 for 2 years
2 editions every year

Peacebuilding, a publication sponsored by the Peace Education Commission (PEC) of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), seeks to facilitate international cooperationamong individuals interested in peace education and research related to peace education at various levels.

Such explanations of why we engage in the teaching of peace remind us that peace is not the business of "others," whose job that is. Peace is the business of each of us, every day, in the ways we treat and respect each other.

More later . . .

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