Stop extremism. Teach Afghan kids to embrace peace

There are many factors that contribute to Afghanistan's culture of violence and one of the least understood, yet significant causes is the behavior of school teachers.  For generations, the overwhelming majority of Afghan teachers, poorly educated and not trained in more modern methods, practice corporal punishment in the classroom - hitting, abusing and intimidating school children.  Such acts are not confined to male teachers as beatings of girls by women are almost as commonplace.  Most remarkably, these horrible practices are generally supported by parents who believe that children need to be harshly disciplined in order to learn respect for elders and behave responsibly in class.  After all, that is how they were brought up.

In schools throughout Afghanistan these practices are ingrained in the culture and have a huge, unintended influence on Afghan youth.  Many children who suffer abuse by teachers; especially at an early age, become bullies or join gangs, taking out their hurt and anger on other children, while giving them a false sense of status as kids to be feared and respected.  Others will become more vulnerable to extremist viewpoints and groups as they grow older, motivated not so much by radical Islam, but revenge on how they were treated by their teachers.

When HTAC begins working with a new school, we typically find that anywhere between 85% to 90% of male and female teachers use aggressive tactics in their classrooms.  Through intensive training and on-going coaching, we are able to shift the attitudes and behaviors of most of these same teachers to where almost 90% abandon corporal punishment within a 2-3 year period.

Mr. Abdul Rauf, a teacher in Afghanistan's Farah Province, describes his own transformation after completing HTAC's teacher training course.  "When I was recruited to be a teacher in my village, I resorted to the same aggressive methods of corporal  punishment I had experienced myself as a student since I knew of no alternative.  In my case, our teacher used wooden sticks or shook us to make us sit still and listen.  ILater, I was fortunate to participate in the new teacher training initiative and it has changed my entire perspective on the art of teaching and learning.  I have gained skills in active learning and motivation; that it is far better and more productive to listen and encourage students than to beat or disregard them.  It's better to spend time engaging students in exercises to help them learn the subject at hand and better prepare them for their exams.  Since returning to my school and resuming teaching, many of my students have expressed their gratitude in how I've changed.  They enjoy coming to class and are not afraid to ask questions.  Most gratifying is hearing that they never forget the lessons they are learning and applying in class."

With your support, HTAC can continue reaching out to teachers like Mr. Rauf, who will in turn, positively influence thousands of Afghan students in his lifetime and help keep them from becoming aggressive and radicalized as adults.

When many people hear about Afghanistan's decades-old culture of violence and its effect on children, they're often surprised to learn that violence in the home is commonplace.  They assume that most of this violence is caused by men, they are typically shocked to learn that women (mothers-in-law, aunts, older sisters) are responsible for physically aggressive behavior against wives and younger girls.

Nazi, a 7th grade girl, is just one of tens of thousands of Afghan girls who grew up in such an environment where she was subjected to harassment and physical abuse by her older sister and Aunt.  Things were no better at school where Nazi was regularly tormented and threatened by a group of girls who ironically were victims of abuse in their own homes.

Nazi's fortunes began to change for the better when she enrolled in HTAC's peace education program.  Living in an environment where fighting seemed to be the only solution for resolving conflicts or disputes, Nazi was fascinated to learn of multiple ways to mediate and reconcile basic differences without violent acts of aggression or threats. 

Shy by nature, Nazi not only learned to role model these peaceful techniques in class, she surprised herself by volunteering to become a student peer mediator; part of a select group of students who step in and help mediate conflicts between students (typically occurring in the school yard), before they become violent.

One day the sister of a girl in Nazi's class hit another girl and the girl's gang of friends came to the class seeking revenge.  Before any fighting broke out, Nazi intervened and successfully mediated the problem, getting the girls to calm down and helping them understand there was a better, more peaceful way to resolve their differences.  The gang of girls who came to the class looking to fight felt better because Nazi made sure they were listened to and felt respected.  The girl who had started the problem, realized her impact of her impulsive actions and apologized.  When it all ended, there was a profound relief among the parties. They shook hands and promised to be more respectful and friendly to one another.  Nazi felt empowered.  She had made a difference.

Since then, Nazi has taken an even bigger step, teaching her family members about the lessons of peace and cooperation, and while things are not perfect, there has been a dramatic change in her household and much of the fighting has been replaced by expressing feelings and listening to one another.

Imagine what peace education can do if we could make this program available to thousands of other girls and boys, just like Nazi.