Background
Defining What Peace-Building looks like
A UN definition for peace found here, requires an action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict.
How to do it
How to do anything requires education. What is Peace Education and can can peace be taught?
Peace Education can be defines as, “the process of acquiring values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, others, and the natural environment.”1.
And Peace Education, like most education, is best begun when we we are young.23 There are resources to help teach the children how to be peacemakers.
A good example, that has taken the attention of the US Department of Justice, is Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids by F Schmidt and A Friedman found here. They present guidelines and activities to help young children find creative and nondestructive ways to resolve conflicts and live in harmony with themselves, others, and their world.
Instructions are also given for arranging the physical setting and encouraging appropriate conflict resolution. Further sections present guidelines and art, music, stories, and nature activities to enhance and reinforce specific skills. These skills include accepting and enjoying commonalities; celebrating differences; expressing feelings such as fear, sadness, anger, and pride; taking responsibility for words and actions; and using appropriate methods for dealing with conflicts. Guidelines for specific activities and annotated list of books for children on self, feelings, friends, families, environment, conflict resolution, and other cultures
There are specifics given to create a viable plan of action in order to incorporate practically into out daily lives and help build the future.
Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids Key Components:
Development of listening, speaking, and cooperative skill
Accept and enjoy similarities and celebrate differences.
Understanding feelings and how to express them
Development of conflict resolution skill
These authors are of the school of thought that peace education is primarily a
question of developing skills.4
The fundamental and central skills are:
cultivate nonviolent character and acquire
conflict resolution skills
There is a vast amount of information and skills that can be gleaned from the many peer reviewed studies. Please subscribe to read more on how to create peace from the soon to come articles.
Page, James. Peace education: Exploring ethical and philosophical foundations. IAP, 2008.
Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8: Deepening and Broadening the Foundation for Success; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council; Allen LR, Kelly BB, editors. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2015 Jul 23. 4, Child Development and Early Learning. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310550/
Kern ML, Friedman HS. Early educational milestones as predictors of lifelong academic achievement, midlife adjustment, and longevity. J Appl Dev Psychol. 2008;30(4):419-430. doi: 10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.025. PMID: 19626128; PMCID: PMC2713445.
Deutsch, M. (2015). Educating for a peaceful world. In Morton Deutsch: Major texts on peace psychology (pp. 89–103). Springer.