Stop extremism. Teach Afghan kids to embrace peace

Without the caring support and intervention of teachers, parents, and community members, far too many Afghan children, especially boys, who have been traumatized through exposure to violence, grow up believing that violence is the only solution to resolving their problems and they become an unwitting part of the country's never-ending cycle of war and terror.

HTAC's peace education program is now producing tangible results that demonstrate that Afghan children can indeed learn to embrace the principles of peaceful everyday living and reject violence.

In one of our largest studies to date involving 2,800 boys and girls at 7 targeted schools, HTAC's peace education team is beginning to see measurable changes in children's behavior once they have been exposed to our program.  In this study, aggressive conflicts between students has decreased by 52% over a 4 month period.  Conversely, 45% more students have been observed using non-violent conflict resolution techniques to prevent and/or resolve conflicts from escalating into fights.  Just as impressive, teachers are reporting that well over half (55%) of all their students are consistently role-modeling positive peace-related behaviors they have learned in the classroom.  Examples include- showing respect to other students, asking for help when frustrated, and seeking solutions with other students to common problems.

While there's much work to be done, many of these children (especially boys), are taking pride in becoming 'peace mediators' in their respective classrooms, oftentimes teaching younger children that fighting and harassment has no benefit in their lives; that there are other, more positive ways to gain respect among their peers and feel good about themselves.

Far too many Afghan children have grown up in an environment where they have been physically and emotionally traumatized by violence. Left unattended, most of them will grow up believing that violence is the only way to resolve conflicts, thus perpetuating Afghanistan's 30 year cycle of internal war and terror.

HTAC's peace education program is dramatically changing the attitudes and behaviors of Afghan children by introducing and practicing various forms of positive behaviors that our trained teachers consistently role-model in the classroom and teach parents to reinforce in the home.

Under the guidance of their teachers, Afghan boys and girls learn to work with peace puppets in acting out their frustrations, anger, sadness, and fears. Using story themes from our 'Journey of Peace' illustrated storybooks, these students adopt different characters, creating mini-plays that are performed in front of their classmates, and later, their parents. Students learn that aggressive behaviors do not lead to successful, satisfying outcomes, but rather learning and incorporating positive behaviors such as patience, respect for others, cooperation, and seeking non-violent solutions to problems.

So far in 2010, HTAC's peace education program has been successfully implemented in 20 schools, directly benefiting 7,850 students.