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by Laurie Frank I just had an out-of culture experience. In Guatemala with Play for Peace, I had the opportunity to work and play with young people who have an urgent need to work for peace. After 36 years of civil war, with the peace accords in a stall and an upcoming election that appears to favor the party that intensified the violence during the "80's, people are nervous. The idea of peace and justice is more than an abstract concept to them. Violence is much more than what they see on television. There's nothing quite like spending time in another culture to gain perspective on your own. Ruth Gudinas, a good friend and multicultural educator, once told me that culture is like a skin-until it becomes uncomfortable, it is easy to ignore. The privilege of my white middle-class culture is take for granted here in the United States. Everyone has the same privileges. Right? It takes just a short detour to discover how truly inane that line of thinking is. My travels in Latin America have given me the gift of perspective. Classism, racism, heterosexism and sexism are much easier to behold when viewing an "other" culture. From that vantage point, many years ago, I came to realization that the same injustice exists here. I really didn't need to travel so far away to learn these same lessons. Violence prevention and peace education have taken on new meaning lately in the United States following the Columbine shootings. Although there are many theories as to why, that single act of violence shook us up. In response, thepolitical bandwagon is being gassed up and made ready to roll. Money is available to prevent this type of rampage from ever happening again. Special meetings are being held to explore how to access that money. Suddenly, it seems, violence is a problem grave enough to warrant a coordinated response. Yet I have no desire for violence prevention.
It is a form of reactionary thinking that buys into the notion that violence
is inevitable. I prefer to look deeper and believe that human nature is
neither violent nor competitive (see Alfie Kohn's, The Brighter Side
of Human Nature). As an incurable optimist, I choose to work toward creating
an environment where there is no need for violence-where peace and justice
are the norms.
Adventure in the Classroom, Diversity in Action or any other title, we offer people the opportunity to see their world differently. By creating a community where people feel safe to share, to be who they are and to be truly listened to, we allow people to see each other first as human beings, rather than as objects that litter one's path toward meeting one's needs and goals. A perpetual problem with most conflict-resolution programs is that they teach the skill of resolving conflicts peacefully without paying any attention to the fact that people may not care two whits about each other. If people see each other as pieces of furniture, why would they want to resolve the conflict? Conflict resolution, therefore, must take place within the context of the community, where people feel connection and responsibility toward each other. As adventure educators we need to create that community before conflict resolution can occur. The beginning of this process is establishing a safe environment where people feel free not only to share themselves, but to risk stepping out of their comfortable culture zone and into another's. It is not necessary to travel thousands of miles to have an out-of-culture experience. We make choices every day that either keep us safely ensconced in our comfort zone of culture or push us past our self-imposed boundaries. One way to do this is to explore the notion that adventure and risk taking are more than climbing, swinging and playing games. Encourage your kids to trade lunches with other kids in schools, or to choose to sit next to someone who is different from themselves (the old all-girls-on-one-side-all-boys-on-the-other issue in the upper elementary grade). Try it yourself by walking into a store that you would normally pass by or going to a different religious service than usual. Create an environment within your family and workplace where cultural sharing is accepted. If possible, visit communities and cultures that are unlike your own-either through field trips at school, family vacations or exchange programs. An intensive encounter in another culture where one cannot easily slide back into a place of comfort can be a powerful learning experience. Finally, while making these conscious choices take the time to bounce this experience off you lifetime frame of reference. This time of reflection and generalization offers the opportunity to lay the foundation for a real paradigm shift. My glasses are not so rosy as to obscure the need for real amelioration of existing violence. Nor do I believe that there is one solution to the complexity of the problems we face in this world. If we subscribe to the notion that every human being has the responsibility to make this world a better place, it is imperative that we view justice as a long walk. As Maya Angelou says, "I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, and others will stand on my shoulders." The kids in Guatemala, though, have shown me that there is always hope. Even after experiencing a lifetime of violence and injustice, they choose to work toward a long-term goal of peace and justice example inspires me to search for ever more ways to work for peace, not just to work against violence. Laurie Frank is a volunteer lead representative
with Play for Peace, and is the owner of GOAL Consulting.
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