By Stephen Perlman | Director, U.S. Operations
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.
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