Times of War and Peace: Dealing with Kids' Concerns

Martine Miljkovitch is an associate professor of Psychology at
Laurentian University.

The editor of this short multi-authored book is a research scientist at
the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The book is “intended for
educators, parents, community workers and all others who share [the]
viewpoint” that there is a “need to help children understand war and
develop peacemaking skills.” In the aftermath of the Gulf War,
“Everybody wanted to know what to tell children, how to reassure them
and what could be ‘safely’ discussed. . . . Thus [this book focuses]
on understanding the causes of war, such as racism and economic
inequality, and on developing media literacy as well as the more
traditional conflict resolution skills.”

Despite its laudable, goals, the book’s achievements are not
impressive. At best, it is a gathering of unsystematized and unrelated
projects that were developed with students; at worst it is a collection
of vague and idealistic opinions. There are no proofs that the projects
described in the book led to major and durable changes in students.
Major criticisms may be leveled at the rationale itself: to inculcate
students with political views may be perceived by some as an
infringement on their parents’ rights. Another major shortcoming is
the absence of a development framework. Surely one does not discuss war
with primary-school students in the same way one discusses the subject
with teenagers. However, the book does raise an important question:
“What is the use of social studies curricula if they ignore notions of
self-hate, inter-ethnic prejudice and violence?”