“We’re building a culture of peace for the children of the world.”Why should peace education be taught in schools? Simple. Because there is no way to peace. Peace is the way. I've waited all my life for a method by which we can teach children honesty, respect and integrity. But, I realize that we teach them that and more. We also teach them to lie, to steal and to turn away from endeavors that take time and effort. We want easy. We want fast. We are teaching our children that "other" children don't matter. It is worse than when we taught that the world was flat. Yet, I'm convinced that while we are teaching bad behavior, we are waking up. And waking up means a constant vigil into self to understand why we don't become the peace we wish to see.
I was with my grandson this weekend. He wanted gum. I said, "Please, may I have some gum?" He looked at me and held his hand out more forcefully. "Gum," he said with a seriousness that meant he wanted it then and there. I said, "Gum, please. You must say please if you want some gum." He cried. He demanded gum as he said with more force, "GUM!" I said, "Unless you say, 'gum please' or 'please may I have some gum,' I will not give you any gum. And I put the gum in my purse. He cried in earnest and I took him in my arms. I held him and started singing a made up song.
Please is a word that says you care
Please is a word that gets you there
If you say 'please' I know you care
And please can take you anywhere
Please, Please, Please
Won't you please say please
If you say please
Then I won't sneeze
And then I pretended to sneeze. He laughed and said with that wonderful smile of his, "Gum?" And I said, "Gum, please." And he just looked and put his head back on my shoulders. He wanted gum. He didn't say 'please' and it seemed we left it there.
The next day as we were getting ready to go outside and play, he asked for a cookie. "A cookie, please." And with a grin so wide, he said triumphantly, "Cookie, PLEASE!" And I told him how proud I was of him and we got a cookie and I sang more of the made up please song. He got it. He'll be two at the end of the month. It was a moment of peace. I loved it and so did he.
