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Baccalaureate Oral Exam 2009: Series A4-A5    

Non-violence

At the second International Forum on the Culture of Peace, held in Manila (Philippines), in November 1995, UNESCO formulated a number of proposais aimed at strengthening a culture of peace through education. Two of these advocate a redesign of the teaching of history in such a way that violence and war no longer feature as the only means available to individuals or nationals for defending their freedom and achieving justice. These proposals are as follows:
- Teaching programs should include information on social movements in favor of peace and non-violence, democracy and equitable development.
- The teaching of history should be systematically reviewed and reformed to give as much emphasis to non-violent social change as to its military aspects, with special attention given to the contribution of women.
It is essential that the "heroes" we hold up for admiration by our children should be not only warriors or revolutionaries who have made themselves famous by fighting: the cult of such heroes becomes reverence paid to violence; and yet we have a whole history of great deeds of non-violent struggle and resistance... The struggles of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, particularly, can help children understand how effective non-violent resistance can be.
Non-violence is still only the conviction of a few individuals living in a society where the great majority does not share that conviction. In such conditions, in the absence of human surroundings that create an intellectual and spiritual atmosphere favorable to non-violence; we are in great danger of going without the fruits that it can yield.
Our most urgent task, then, is to create such a human environment that will foster the culture of non-violence.

From Non-violence in Education by Jean-Marie Muller.