ACEI Statement on Children and War/Peace Education

As an organization for those concerned with the inherent rights, education and well-being of children, the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) has issued the following statement on the subject of children and war, and peace education:

Children who have fewer ideas about peace than they do about war are the long-term consequence of a society that legitimizes violence in the form of armed conflict, dismisses human values in the face of political crises, and drains government budgets with military spending.

Peace education is not simply favoring the absence of war. Children must be guided to think clearly, analyze penetratingly, and challenge fearlessly. The next generation of children must reject killing as an uncivilized and unproductive way to deal with human conflict. The citizens of the world deserve future leaders who will be able to face and solve problems with diplomacy and dialogue.

A United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the Association for Childhood Education International advocates for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and participated in the draft and development of "A World Fit for Children," the outcome document of the 2002 UN Special Session on Children.