A survey confirms that most of our youth are exposed to violence in their daily lives, either directly or indirectly. Some have been exposed to violence in their homes, schools, and communities as victims or witnesses over the past few years. Studies show that some youth exposed to violence experience a certain level of physical, mental, and emotional harm, suffering from detachment, anxiety, depression, and even aggression. How could we support school-age youth in developing knowledge, skills, and values to prevent violence and resolve conflicts peacefully?

The human brain exhibits a higher degree of neuroplasticity. As long as the brain learns and experiences something new and memorizes, it will initiate changes and transformation. Our project will design a "Peace Education" program to support the school-aged youth in cultivating inner peace (a harmonic relationship with oneself) to outer peace (harmonic relationship extending from oneself to others). By using a “narrative approach,” the youth are facilitated to interpret the stories with themselves and others, re-learn new ways of communication, and explore ways to create reconciliation stories. 

It is expected that:
 

Behavioural Change: the youth could generate peace of mind, and therefore they could have more willingness to build tolerance and the ability to listen to the concerns of others before making judgments and adopting non-violent conflict resolution practices.
Relational Change: the youth’s relationship with different groups, including their peers, parents, teachers, and the adults in the societies, could be occurred. 

Structural Change: the youth could cooperate with local partners effectively to bring about changes in areas affected by the issue or problem. 

Ÿ   School-aged young people (~ 300)

Ÿ Teachers and Educational Leaders (~100)

Ÿ Social Workers and Social Service Providers (~ 50)

2022

Culture, Education