SYMPOSIUM: Voices for Peace: Educators Respond to the Virginia Tech Shootings: Peace Education in a Violent Culture

Abstract

The horror of the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech challenges people to think about how to reduce levels of violence in the United States. Violence is a hallmark of American culture. A recent ranking of countries from peaceful to violent places the United States ninety-sixth in the world, out of 2 countries (Global Peace Index, 2007). Each day, eight children in the United States are murdered by gunfire (Children’s Defense Fund, 2004). Three million children each year are abused or neglected (Lamberg, 998). Young people in the United States typically watch tens of thousands of simulated murders by the time they reach adolescence (Lamberg, 998). In a society where the use of violence is viewed as legitimate — armed police provide security, parents use corporal punishment to discipline their children, popular culture praises violent heroes, and vast amounts of resources go to maintaining military superiority — children will learn to resort to violence to resolve their conflicts. Young people like Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter on the Virginia Tech campus, who act out violently in schools have learned well the lessons taught on the news and in the violent entertainment they watch. In response to the carnage of shootings that have taken place in U.S. schools during the past decade, educators are turning to a fresh approach, peace education, to quell incidents of school violence. Some have turned to the growing field of peace studies to gain insights into what they can do to empower students to resolve conflicts nonviolently. Peace theory teaches that there are three approaches to peace — peace through strength, peacemaking, and peace-building (Berlowitz, 994; Galtung & Jacobsen, 2000). Peace through strength relies on force and threats of force to deter violence or punish aggressors. Peacemaking uses communication skills to resolve conflicts,