International Day of Peace

Every year on Sept. 21st, nations around the world observe the International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations as a day of non-violence and a cessation of hostilities in order to promote peaceful conflict resolution. This year, through the help and contacts of my T.E.A.M. mentors, I was able to arrange for 115 of my 7th grade students from Herricks Middle School to participate in the UN's 10th annual student observance of the International Day of Peace at the organization's headquarter in Manhattan.

Following inspirational speeches by celebrity Messengers of Peace, such as Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Elie Weisel, and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, we saw a live Q & A webcast interaction between youths of the United States at the UN headquarter, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lebanon. This was a unique opportunity to hear directly from young people living in the midst of terrible conflicts and to exchange views on war, peace, and most importantly, hope.

At noon, the entire United Nations building observed a minute of silence to reflect on the meaning of world peace and the sacrifices, successes, and failures of efforts made towards achieving this ultimate goal. The assembly concluded with moving testimonies from a panel of youths who have stepped up to the challenges of a conflict-filled society and took action in hope to make a difference through publications, organizations, rallies, clubs, etc. Perhaps the most touching story was told by Anna, who was a teenager of only 15. Anna was originally adopted from Peru and upon a return visit to several orphanages in Peru, she was inspired to start start a non-profit organization called Peruvian Hearts to help bring help to meet the needs of the orphans. Anna's story was not only heart-warming but it stands as evidence that young people have the potential to make tremendous differences in the world.

I feel extremely thankful and honored to participate in such a fascinating experience and all the adults present shared my excitement and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, I realized that my students were too young and a bit immature to truly appreciate the program. I often forget that it is hard to engage/entertain teenagers! It is difficult for 11 year-old kids from Long Island suburbia to conceptualize the hardships in Lebanon, hunger in the Republic of the Congo or fear and terror in Sudan. In addition, most of the students at the assembly were either high schoolers or college students and their questions/comments were on a deeper intellectual level - a couple of steps above that of my students.

To make things more difficult for my students at the event, we were seated in the balcony due to our tardiness and it was impossible to hear what was going on down on the floor of the auditorium (especially when it comes to speakers with heavy accents). Eventually the kids stopped trying to listen and simply tuned out. I have to admit that it was extremely discouraging and disheartening to witness such inattentiveness among my students amidst such an extraordinary program... not to mention the fact that I worked so hard to get them reservations for this field trip and jumped through numerous administrative hoops to get them all there! I guess like everything else in the field of education, I cannot take it personally and simply hope that this experience planted a seed in the kids and will eventually blossom in time.