Nonviolence Resources for High School:

Diamond, Louise. The Peace Book: 108 Simple Ways to Create a More Peaceful World. USA: Conari Press, Third Edition, 2003. [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]

Our high school class was given a set of 30 copies as gifts in The Great Peace Give-Away.

It's a wonderful little book. The students found it very easy to read and understand. Several of them commented on how much they loved it and were inspired to branch out on different projects to "Be The Change."

MacNair, Rachel. Gaining Mind of Peace: Why Violence Happens and How to Stop It. Philadelphis: Xlibris Corporation, 2003. [order from XLibris, or call +1 (888) 795 4274 for classroom discounts ] [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]

This 172 page book is written for young people. My Peace and Conflict Studies class of high school sophomores, juniors and seniors found this book very accessible and interesting. We had great discussions based on the chapter readings, and I am sure the one of the reasons the students left the course with a strong understanding of nonviolence is because of Rachel MacNair's book. It was easy to get the book adopted by our public school board.

Marx, Jeffrey. "He Turns Boys into Men." Parade Magazine, August 29, 2004.

Wink, Walter. The Powers That Be. Galilee/ Doubleday, 224 pp, ISBN 0-385-48752-5, 1989. [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]

As Wink's summary of his major theological work, this book is most appropriate in religious schools. Yet his profound and very readable insights into the nature of culture, religion, power, violence, and how principled nonviolence can redeem them will be most useful in any course. "The Domination System" (chapter 2) is the single most helpful tool I have encountered for understanding what is going on in the culture around us. "Breaking the Spiral of Violence" (ch. 4) is the only explanation of the Crucifixion that makes complete sense to me. "Jesus' Third Way" (ch. 5) sets out the full significance, and the revolutionary power, of Jesus' nonviolent principles, such as turning the other cheek, and going the extra mile.

Easwaran, Eknath. Gandhi the Man Nilgiri Press, 179 pp, ISBN 0-915132-96-6, 1997. [Amazon] [Barnes & Noble]

This extraordinary book has, for the past 30 years, been the heart of the Alternatives to Violence course I teach in my high school. After all these years, it still moves me, more than any other life of Gandhi I have read. And my students still come back from reading the first chapter astonished and wondering, for the first time, about their own previously undreamed of potential. Beautifully laid out, with many photos and many quotes.

Challenge Day, http://www.challengeday.org/

A one-day experience that ranges from silly and fun to serious and life-changing, Challenge Day is an event you and your students should not miss. My students started a petition after experiencing their first Challenge Day; they wanted it to be a requirement for every student at our school. Students laugh together, cry together, reconcile differences, share sadness and joy, and learn more about diversity, relationships, and love than they ever could from any classroom lesson.

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website: The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website is a little difficult to navigate, but well worth the effort. Under "Programs," go to "Youth Outreach" to find a number of good ideas to share with your students. I asked them each to research further the foundation's list of "Peace Heroes." The students' presentations were wonderful, educational, and helped them gain respect for nonviolence. In "Resources and Archives," there is a Speakers' Bureau; these are wonderful guest speakers for your class, if you can arrange them.

Find some good Peace Education Curriculum written by Leah Wells at http://www.peaceed.org/pdfs/teaching%20peace.pdf

Six Friends: http://www.6-friends.org/

The mission of 6 Friends is to establish enduring relationships between people regardless of distance or culture. Cultural sharing and collaborative projects that promote international friendship are enabled through a sophisticated, secure, globally accessible 6 Friends intranet. Schools that join this program are linked with other schools from communities on the six populated continents. Six communities form each 6 Friends Village. 6 Friends Villages are assisted and monitored by Village Coordinators who ensure that members of the communities remain connected year after year. School teachers and administrators have a single point of contact for support. Teachers and administrators can also log in to discussion boards which are monitored and contributed to by key thought leaders within the International Montessori Council. Students each create a personal website enabling them to communicate easily with other students in their 6 Friends Village. One of the most exciting new developments is the initiation of 6 Friends Peace Program, a strategy that will allow members of 6 Friends Villages to work with their friends from communities around the world on common peace initiatives.

Missing, a Costa-Gavras Film With Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, 123 minutes, ISBN 0-7832-3296-9 [Amazon]

Although a few names in this story of the September 11, 1973 coup in Chile were changed, the important ones were not. I use this film as a window on the domination system, with its mutual reinforcement of political, military, economic, and patriarchal, power. My students find this approach insightful and helpful.

Gandhi, Richard Attenborough With Ben Kingsley as the Mahatma, 180 minutes [Amazon]

This film, for good reason, won eight Academy Awards. I find it an irresistible teaching tool for high school students. It is historically accurate. The script and the acting capture much of the essence of Gandhi. I show the entire film, spread over a number of weeks, with in-depth discussions of many key points in Gandhi's life and Experiments with Truth. Depending on student responses, I use John Briley's script, or even replay some key scenes. But many of the scenes can stand alone as powerful food for thought and discussion. If you only have time for one segment, start with the train incident (minute 7) and continue through his theater speech, of September 11, 1906 (minute 29).

A Force More Powerful, a series of six 30 minute TV segments. Edited by Peter Ackerman, produced by Steve York, available at www.films.com, or 800-257-5126

This series documents some recent nonviolent movements, including the American Freedom (Civil Rights) Movement in Nashville, TN, Gandhi's rediscovery and development of nonviolence in India, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the largely nonviolent resistance of Denmark to the Nazis, the Solidarity Movement against Russian domination in Poland, and the "No" Campaign which ended the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. I use the Denmark segment before a discussion of how nonviolence could be used in national defense, and the Chile segment as a sequel to our study of the violent 1973 coup in Missing.