Teaching Peace: It’s Easier Than You Might Think

With so much world violence happening at every moment, and kids being exposed to bullying (both on and offline these days) at such early ages, it’s more important than ever to start teaching nonviolence and the importance of peace at an early age.

“Peace?” you might think, “Isn’t that a bit of a large concept for my toddler?” Not really. Consider all of the times you tell little Carson to not hit or to play nice, or remind young Sasha to share her toys or even to use her “inside voice.” Even preschool teachers who have “Keep your arms, feet and other objects to yourself” or some variation of that rule enforced in their classroom are teaching peace.

Whether you’re a babysitter, teacher aid, parent, or you simply have little ones in your life as neighbors or relatives, you can foster peace, too.

Nix the extra violence. There’s already so much of it that kids don’t need any extra through TV programs or video games. There are plenty of nonviolent programs out there, as well as cooperative games to play that teach working together and compromising rather than competition and violence.

Expose him or her to different people and cultures. You can do this through music, movies, food, cultural festivals, or even people in your family of other cultures. Explain that there are many different kinds of people—different shapes, sizes, colors, genders—and that is what makes the world such a beautiful place. Help stop the hate before it even begins.

Never, ever hit. Teach that hitting is never the answer and that we don’t use violence to solve problems.

Teach that cultural jokes aren’t tolerable. Don’t tell racial jokes in your home, and if you hear your child repeat something he or she has heard explain why it’s not nice to say and how it hurts people—as well as why it is not true, and not fair to generalize people.

Speak in peace. This is much easier said than done. If you find yourself screaming, saying hateful things, or talking like a pirate around children, try to stop and remember that you want to display peaceful language. When you’re angry, use “I” messages to teach them how to resolve conflict, such as “I feel very sad when you break my things. It hurts my feelings. We need to play nice and respect each other’s things.”

For more teaching peace resources, check out Teaching Peace and Teaching Tolerance.