Promoting Peace in Schools
His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, once said, “The planet doesn’t need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.”
No school is supposed to promote disharmony and violence. However, today many schools encounter disharmony, hatred, violence and disrespect. Sadly, this is what our students see, observe and experience in their own localities and their families. Probably, our students are not directly involved in these things, but they observe what happens around them. They listen to the news, watch what is happening around their locality, and see how their parents, relatives and families react to caste divisions, linguistic differences and communalism. They observe how their parents, family members, friends and neighbours are responding to violence, hatred, etc. On the other hand, they are also told to respect everyone and to be at peace with everyone. And therefore, the school should have an ambience for positive ideas about peace, harmony and tranquillity.
Here are a few suggestions for students and teachers to promote the noble value of peace in our schools.
1. Display inspiring quotes on peace: Put up inspiring peace quotations by Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rabindranath Tagore and other great leaders in and around the school campus. This will enable the students to see and read them constantly. Peace quotes help one to find what peace means to oneself and others.
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Sr Mary Dorette, CSST, an educator and youth counsellor, has been a Principal for many years. She is passionately involved in many humanitarian activities and environmental issues. She is an ardent promoter of value education for peace.