Sara Dobson
Rachel Henwood - Freelance WriterGive Peace A Chance
January 26th 2007 05:40
I often wonder what it would take to end all the wars in the world and I always come back to a very simplistic answer. What if we were to start where children start…the playground? I’m always amazed how easily children can make friends with one another at the park regardless of the other child’s socio-economic background, race, and ethnicity, place of origin or religion. Children are not tainted and jaded the way adults often can be. They don’t see all the things we see and usually don’t judge what they see. In fact, I would argue that they see clearly. All a child knows is play. They make friends without even trying.
Today my daughter was playing on the slide and along comes another little girl about her age, and the next thing you know, they are both running, sliding, and playing. No talking, no introductions, no judgments, no discriminating, no hate…just PLAY. As the children played on the slide, I couldn’t help but notice there was some graffiti on the side of the slide. It just read PEACE. I sat and pondered the meaning of peace as it pertains to the world around us and how little of it we actually have. My mind of course wondered to the war and how we have these seemingly insurmountable problems of having involved ourselves in what seems like another pointless war with people that seem to hate each other as much as the United States.
As I watched my daughter and her new friend, slide and play, I noticed the mother of the little girl walk up from the beach with another infant child. I couldn’t help but notice the Hajib or scarf that wrapped around her head and face. I couldn’t help but wonder what people may think or treat people from other countries. She walked past me and acknowledged me with a quick glance and kept walking. Shortly afterwards her husband walked by and we both said “hello” quickly and awkwardly. It was more out of respect than anything else. As the children continued to play, I couldn’t help but wonder what the world would be like if we could all just PLAY like children. I mean what would happen if we could all just LOVE one another and just share the slide. Now I know there seems to be no easy answer to end a complex civil war…but what if we could just introduce children to each other at a young enough age? What if we could teach tolerance instead of hate? What if we could teach others how we are alike and not different? What if PEACE did start with children at the playground? What if we could just GIVE PEACE A CHANCE?
Today my daughter was playing on the slide and along comes another little girl about her age, and the next thing you know, they are both running, sliding, and playing. No talking, no introductions, no judgments, no discriminating, no hate…just PLAY. As the children played on the slide, I couldn’t help but notice there was some graffiti on the side of the slide. It just read PEACE. I sat and pondered the meaning of peace as it pertains to the world around us and how little of it we actually have. My mind of course wondered to the war and how we have these seemingly insurmountable problems of having involved ourselves in what seems like another pointless war with people that seem to hate each other as much as the United States.
As I watched my daughter and her new friend, slide and play, I noticed the mother of the little girl walk up from the beach with another infant child. I couldn’t help but notice the Hajib or scarf that wrapped around her head and face. I couldn’t help but wonder what people may think or treat people from other countries. She walked past me and acknowledged me with a quick glance and kept walking. Shortly afterwards her husband walked by and we both said “hello” quickly and awkwardly. It was more out of respect than anything else. As the children continued to play, I couldn’t help but wonder what the world would be like if we could all just PLAY like children. I mean what would happen if we could all just LOVE one another and just share the slide. Now I know there seems to be no easy answer to end a complex civil war…but what if we could just introduce children to each other at a young enough age? What if we could teach tolerance instead of hate? What if we could teach others how we are alike and not different? What if PEACE did start with children at the playground? What if we could just GIVE PEACE A CHANCE?
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