If Ignorance Can Bring About War, Education Can Lead To Peace
In a world where children are surrounded by violence and war...
...we can help build a more peaceful future, one book at a time.
From East Los Angeles from Northern Ireland to South Africa, children are the victims of daily violence. In the past decade, millions of young people have suffered the tragic effects of ethnic, religious, nationalistic, racially inspired and gang-related warfare waged by adults around the world. Many children continue to be killed, and many more are hurt, both physically and psychologically.
What happens when these young people grow up?
Most children follow in the footsteps of the adult role models in their families and communities. Young people who are raised in the shadow of war are, deliberately or not, conditioned by these adults to fear and hate "the enemy" and to see violence as the only solution to the problems in their lives. When conflicts last for generations, these destructive lessons are strongly reinforced, and children learn to revere the tradition of war.
Violence begets more violence, unless we intervene.
When children don't have the opportunity to learn how to resolve conflict peacefully, they grow up believing that violence will solve the problems of human relationships. Sadly, as adults they perpetuate the very conditions that have victimized them as children.
Children in schools, scouting groups, religion classes, martial art programs and other organizations can raise money to send Education for Peace books to other children in need. By collecting money through bake sales, bottle recycling drives and other activities, children can learn fiscal responsibility and teamwork while they help young people in other parts of America and the world learn about peace. For more information about how your school or organization can get involved in this special program, please call the Atrium Society toll-free at 1-800-848-6021.
Children in war-torn countries and violent inner cities still go to school to learn.
Children Helping Children
Many relief organizations feed, clothe and provide shelter for children who are victims of war. But we can't feed the body and ignore the mind—especially the very impressionable and hungry minds of the children, many of whom are still going to school every day.
Our Education for Peace® books help children understand and solve conflicts—peacefully.
Education for Peace® books help liberate children from the conditioned, divisive thinking at the root of bullying, racism and war. Using stories, activities, games, role-playing, and colorful and thought-provoking illustrations, these books help young people aged 8 to 15 learn practical skills for solving problems without violence.
We encourage children to think for themselves—we don't moralize or patronize.
Education for Peace® books don't talk down to children; instead, they teach children how to examine their own conditioning and be free of it. The author, Dr. Terrence Webster-Doyle, was awarded the Robert Burns Medal in Literature for "outstanding merits in the field of peace promotion." Young people can read his books on their own or with the support of a parent or teacher.
The books are distributed by charitable organizations experienced in troubled areas of America and abroad.
Schools, youth centers, peace and religious organizations, and counselors in strife-ridden parts of the globe want to educate children while their minds are still open to peaceful human cooperation. Unfortunately, they lack the funds to do so, which is why we created this Donate Books for Peace project. With funding from contributors and distribution help from reputable relief organizations such as the International Book Bank, we hope to raise enough money to donate thousands of books to the children who need them the most.
Education for Peace® books are published by the Atrium Society, a nonprofit, nonsectarian and nonpolitical organization committed to peace education around the world. Formed in 1984, the Atrium Society focuses on the primary factors that lead to conflict: conditioned thinking and action. Our minds are conditioned by origin of birth, education and experiences. The Atrium Society works to bring this issue of conditioning, and the tremendous conflict it creates, to the forefront of our awareness.
Many books have already been sent to U.S. cities and foreign countries, but the need is much greater than the supply.
The Atrium Society®
We have already sold and donated Education for Peace® books to many parts of the world, but more are still needed, here at home and abroad. Children in cities including Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C., and in areas such as the Middle East, former Yugoslavia, the Baltic States and much of Africa need peace education. Their lives literally depend on it.
Schools in foreign countries welcome books written in English.
Foreign countries welcome the Education for Peace® books Because they help teach English as a second language. We've also begun the Translations Partners Project, which raises funds to help publishers print and distribute copies of the Education for Peace® books in indigenous languages. (For more information about the Translation Partners Project™, please call the Atrium Society at 1-800-848-6021.)
Just a few dollars can make a difference—one book can help many children.
The Donate Books for Peace project needs help from all those who feel that peace education is the key to a more sane and peaceful future. Please contribute. Your donation, of even one book, sets into motion a deep and lasting education for one or more children. To make a contribution, please contact the Atrium Society® toll-free at 1-800-848-6021.
