Life around the globe is filled with violence manifested in social inequalities, exclusion and armed conflict. Today, more than ever, we need to teach peace and create opportunities for students to explore nonviolent ways to resolve interpersonal, local and global conflicts. Peace and conflict resolution is probably the most valuable “discipline” in education, yet schools rarely include it in their curriculum in any significant way. Instead, we glamorize war and teach our children and youth to idolize war heroes. Imagine, for a moment, the power of focusing on peacemakers, peace, and the conditions for peace among peoples, between nations and in our personal lives.
In my view, all schools should be required to teach peace and conflict resolution to all students at all grade levels. Peace and conflict resolution must have a seat at the curriculum table to achieve lasting peace in our world. Peace education is dramatically more valuable and important than many courses students are required to take in school. Did you know that high school students forget about 85% of what they learn, due in large part to the fact that many required courses are totally irrelevant to their lives and interests? They sit for hours in boring classes, sleep or listen to boring lectures, read textbooks, take notes, cram for tests and promptly dump the data from their brains after the tests. I believe nearly everyone is interested in getting along well and peacefully with others. If peace education and conflict resolution at interpersonal, local, national and global levels played a significant role in education globally, our world would be far more peaceful and prosperous for all. Organizations such as Peace Education Center, http://www.tc.edu/peaceed of Teachers College at Columbia University are certainly doing their part to move us forward.