Iolani Students Contemplate Nonviolence
by Peter Greenhill
On Wednesday, March 8th, Dr. Glenn Paige, founder and president of the Center for Global Nonviolence, gave a presentation to students, faculty, and staff in Seto Hall about the importance of being part of a worldwide movement toward nonviolence.
The most recent guest of the Iolani Peace Institute, Dr. Paige based his presentation on a question he has discussed with people in countless countries all over the world, from Colombia to Jordan, from the Congo to Mongolia, from Haiti to Japan, from the USA to Korea: Is a nonkilling society possible?
In addition to his presentation, Dr. Paige also visited six different classes during the day. All those classes were packed as other teachers brought other classes in, squeezing as many as nearly sixty people into the Weinberg Building classrooms.
Dr. Paige defined "a nonkilling society" for the students as follows: a society in which there is no killing, no threat to kill, no weapons designed for killing, no justification made for using weapons, and no social conditions that depend upon the threat or use of killing force to maintain or change them.
Then the students were asked to write out answers, yes or no with reasons. Dr. Paige analyzed the answers, which were overwhelming on the "no" side. He said that this was not unusual when Americans first consider this question; America is a very violent society. But even people in the Congo, just a few years removed from genocide that caused the deaths of more than three million people, change their minds after analyzing and discussing the question for two or three days.
The good news is that in just one day Dr. Paige was able to interact with more than 300 students in grades 7-12, or about 25% of the Upper School. What this means is that at the very least, 25% of Iolani's Upper School students, even if they got nothing else out of the encounter, have been exposed to one of the most important questions circulating around the world today.
The question will resonate in their minds; maybe it will move to the backs of their minds, but there is always the chance that it might drift once again to the front. If we are to help make the world a more peaceful, less violent place, if there is a chance to stop the killing around the world, this is exactly how such advancements can start. But if we don't even think about the possibilities, Dr. Paige said, we can never make any progress at all.
(Anyone interested in learning more about this subject or the fundamental question it revolves around should go to www.globalnonviolence.org. At the site, you can even read Dr. Paige's important book Nonkilling Global Political Science for free online.)
