Peace and the World Peace Flame is being taken to children in the North of England:
'Once again this year I have been asked to attend local schools and give peace assemblies and workshops to the children. I have gone to some new schools as well as returned to some I attended last year. Wendy Scott and I started this last year and made a pledge to cover all 290 schools in the region. Sadly Wendy passed away in the spring but I am carrying on, with the help of other local people who also go to the assemblies and make the World Peace Flame candles for participants.
'The first assembly, One World Moving for Peace, consists of a presentation answering three questions (1) What is Peace? (2) What is the World Peace Flame? (3) What can we do for Peace? The first contains photos of beautiful scenery instilling the idea that Peace comes from within and how a person feels. The second is about how the World Peace Flame was created and shows pictures from The Hague, North Wales, and various candles. The third takes the children through possible peace activities from Picnicking for Peace, Walking for Peace, Talking for Peace, Writing for Peace, to Planting a Tree for Peace. Then we do some Clapping for Peace (which is quite noisy!) followed by putting our hands together like a flower and closing our eyes to think about what peace means to every person. The children always become very still at that point, and after a short silence I ask if they would like to share what they thought. Finally, I ask for volunteers to help create a Peace Corner – with a flower, a globe, a rock, a shell, pen and pencil, a peace book, peaceful music and a candle – each promoting the idea of peace. The schools are encouraged to create their own Peace Corner. We end with us all saying Peace is Love in our Hearts!
'All the children in the school receive a World Peace Flame candle and a post card with things they can do for peace. If they walk for Peace, each one will receive a certificate with their name, the date and distance of the walk. Their miles are added into the running total for the walk that began in July 2005. So far, more than 6,000 people (many of them school children) have walked over 27,000 miles.
'The other assembly is called ABC Peace and it is about how to respond to teasing and bullying by changing one's own attitude rather than giving in or fighting back. The children learn that A is the Event they cannot change, B is the emotion they feel about the event, and C is their reaction to B. If they can change their emotion at B they can change their response at C – and create a more peaceful atmosphere by refusing to fight back.'
- with many thanks to Lynda Strickler!
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