By Stephen Perlman | Director, U.S. Operations
What will it take to stop the cycle of war and violence that has gripped Afghanistan for over 30 years? HTAC believes that giving children, their parents, and local communities the tools to address the root causes of violence while helping them embrace the principles of peaceful everyday living is the missing strategy in bringing peace and greater stability to this poor, war-torn country.
In 2011, HTAC's innovative peace education program continues to make significant strides in changing long-held attitudes and counter-productive behaviors of children (and adults) in the following ways:
1. Helping children cope with the trauma of witnessing or experiencing violence first-hand by reading and discussing Journey of Peace storybooks that have characters and stories they can relate to.
2. Using puppets and mini-theaters for children to act out their frustrations, anger, sadness, and healing.
3. Teaching children the techniques of non-violent conflict resolution as an alternative to fighting and other aggressive behavior.
4. Training teachers to role model positive (motivational) behaviors in the classroom and cease counter-productive corporal punishment practices.
5. Providing peace guides and orientations for parents to help reinforce the principles of peace in the home.
6. Working with local community leaders to reinforce peace education among adults.
As we have already seen, schools and local communities that are exposed to peace education will become breeding grounds for peace, respect, and cooperation and cease to be potential breeding grounds of terrorism.
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