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Between September 16 and September 22 students and others discussed peace
on the Peace Day discussion board. The excerpts below were selected from
that discussion. If you want to respond to these ideas or send in your own
comments for possible inclusion, you can e-mail them to cyberschoolbus@un.org.Ideas and action go together. We hope that some new ideas will come out of this discussion board as students discuss the two crucial questions mentioned at the top of the page: what does peace mean to each of us and what can we do about it? Some of these ideas might translate into concrete action but the discussion initself will be valuable as well. To paraphrase the UNESCO charter, war begins in our minds and so it is in our minds, too, that the forces of peace must be constructed. Be bold and innovative and respond to each other. The
UN Cyberschoolbuscyberschoolbus@un.org On behalf of all the teachers, students and parents of the Global Schoolhouse, we send our deepest, and sincerest hope for an end to violence. We will do all we can to achieve the goal of global peace. Yvonne Marie Andresprojhelp@gsn.org Mi deseo va mas hall del fin de la violencia fˇsica, espero que nuestro planeta sea un sitio sin violencias de ningŁn tipo, que todos tengan un trabajo digno para satisfacer sus necesidades b sicas, que todos tengan posibilidades de educarse y de crecer en un ambiente de libertad y para que esto suceda es necesario que aquellos que tienen mas posibilidades, que est n mas desarrollados y fuertes aprendan a compartir. Gustavo Perezgaperez@waelder.com.ar Peace is something the whole world needs and should try to achieve. I don't think peace is something one group should try to achieve, I think it is something that everyone should try to not only achieve but also promote. It is not the UN's or the government's problem, it is ours. The people of the world. Everyone always talks about how they want peace for their children but they really don't do anything other than whine about how we need peace. Well this is their chance to do something about it. Lianne GlausLianneMG@aol.com Peace is much more than just the absence of war. To achieve this crucial goal, as many people as possible need to consciously play their part. The notion/idea of Peace needs to be discussed, defined, expanded and, most importantly, understood. Complacency is the common enemy to Peace, because it allows us to say that planning and working towards Peace is someone else's responsibility. No - the danger lies here that everyone is expecting someone else to be doing something about developing and manifesting Peace. Each one of us DOES make a difference and we must add our efforts to this universal cause. If everyone encouraged one other person to consider and plan for Peace, think what that would mean. Even if it was not possible to support the UN International Day of Peace today, it is not necessary to wait another year before doing something positive. Do something, think something, make PEACE a part of your password on your computer, so that all your communications and your daily work through that media, take place with that quality as the doorway between you and your colleagues, friends, family and everyone you communicate with. Take responsibility for ensuring that Peace happens, because after all "Peace begins with ourselves" Diane Rasmussendra@who.dk Shorecliffs Middle School students believe that peace must start with each one of us. The two lines of poetry submitted for the Peace Poem states our belief that each individual can promote peace by participating in acts of kindness everyday. Nancy Haasnwhaas@fia.net Sally Mauro Elementary students feel that we need to learn to get along with each other by giving and taking and trying to forget getting even with each other. Learn to laugh at each other when teasing happens and when we tease, not to hurt some ones feelings. Jean Dimickdimickj@sme.carbon.k12.ut.us War and conflict has always been part of nature and part of the world since the beginning of time. If people have it in them to create war, I believe that they can also create peace among themselves. The children of the world are the people who can make a difference. We can look past the conflicts with other people and nations that are in our world today to help bring peace into the future.We need to start by bringing peace and friendship among ourselves and accept each other's different ways of life. April Stephensonaws1+@pitt.edu 'Will there ever be peace?' is a question we all want answered. I hope and pray that the answer is yes, but deep down I think that I will never see that happen in my lifetime. Until we can get over our own selfish reasons for fighting, peace will never be accomplished. We need to look past the color of our skin, our different religions, and our different ways of life, to fully achieve global peace. Gara ScanlonMachtay@pitt.edu In order to ever achieve peace we, the people of the world, must do something about it. We can complain all we want about the UN, but that's not helping anything. Instead of calling them hypocrites and criticizing, we should be promoting peace and trying to do something about it. Peace is not something that can be achieved overnight, and honestly I don't know if we will ever achieve it. Nikki Vaws1@pitt.edu Peace is a learned behavior. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the children and young adults in the world to make a difference. We, who are the present and the future, must be held accountable for the world we live in. By practicing what we know in our hearts is right, we can impact everyone around us. In turn, these people will learn from our examples, and practice these actions of peace. This cycle is like a chain...unfortunately, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. It is our responsibility to strengthen the weakest link around us. Live in peace, and others will follow!!!! Renee Poeschlaws1+@pitt.edu Hello and welcome to my world - that could possibly become yours. What I write, you may not believe in, and I'm not asking you to. I only request that you respect it, and if you agree, please respond. To me, peace is an undefined term that is different to everyone, myself included. Peace is a term that is loosely used and usually quite vague to me. I don't feel that peace is abundant in my life, probably because I don't recognize it...but how can I? To me, the only time I feel at peace is with music, which plays an active role in my life, influencing daily decisions. This all may sound quite morbid to the rest of you, but I'm sure that there are a few of you that agree. Music relaxes me and puts me into a different state of mind that cannot be explained unless you can connect like that. If you can, please write back for the sheer fact that maybe together we could accomplish a feeling of peace. If we all unite through music, we can accomplish peace. Just think: I'm sure most of you have been to some type of concert before in your life. Did you ever take the time to sit back and think "look at how many people are here"? Music brings us together and forms a bond. If everyone at that concert would have associated with each other, just think of the possibilities of peace surfacing. That is known as the POWER of MUSIC... farewell.
Kimberly Irmermachtay@pitt.edu In this day and age, peace has become an issue that has drawn world wide attention. I think we are making things more complicated than they need to be. If everybody agrees that things are much better during times of peace, then why are we constantly fighting? I guess everybody is putting themselves before everybody else. Many of us are so caught up in the material things of this world that we forget sometimes what really matters. Money can't buy complete happiness. I know that some people would disagree with that, but I would rather feel good about myself than have a lot of money. Compromise is the name of the game when it comes to peace. It is hard to completely satisfy both sides, and if we realize that and accept that, then we should be able to accomplish peace. PEACE is the key to happiness. Christen Walshsweething4@juno.com Alright, we all want "peace", right ? Well, think about it. What can you, as an individual, do to help world peace (i.e. the ending of all war and the peaceful coexistence of all people)? The answer: almost nothing -- at least not on a large- scale, world level, anyway. What more people need to do is wake up and realize that something like peace starts right around the corner. Yes, it sounds corny, but it's true. There's too much garbage out there like gangs, racism, anti-Semitism, random violence, etc. Until we can clean up our own back yard we can't go around telling everybody how great world peace would be. Let's take care of ourselves before we go around telling everybody else what to do. Chris Sorleymachtay@pitt.edu The International Day of Peace brought every body to reflection in our school. I heard different comments and thoughts on world peace throughout the day. As I was leaving school though, I think I heard the most profound comment I heard all day. Another teacher said that we should pray for inner peace and work at being at peace with ourselves if we ever want to reach world peace. Gloria Hamdhammer@pad-uky.campus.mci.net I can imagine a world of total peace where everyone lives together in harmony. And I can imagine us attacking this world because they'd never expect it. Robert DavisI don't believe that peace will ever be achieved. There has never been peace in the history of mankind - there has always been war. One person can strive for peace for all of their lives, but there will always be one person to destroy it. Lauren LarsonL.Larson@Juno.com. I've always wondered how a one syllable, five letter word could be so difficult to accomplish.Most if not all of the people in the world constantly whine and complain that world peace is a necessity, so why isn't anybody doing anything about this world-wide problem. Why don't we come together to discuss the problem of wars, anti-freedom governments, forced child labor, and decide what we as common everyday citizens can do to fix the problem.If we all could unite in one common goal there is no force strong enough that would deny us world-peace. If everybody gave even 10 minutes of everyday life to work on world peace, this very attainable goal would be realized !!! Timothy Warnermachtay@pitt.edu |
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cyberschoolbus@un.org
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