Hiroshima Day
Our topic was reviewing the history of CEASE/P.E.A.C.E. which was founded at an NAEYC conference in 1979, inspired by concern about the dangers of nuclear radiation from above ground testing of nuclear weapons. Hiroshima Day brings us to remember the destruction of that first nuclear bomb dropped in 1945.
Peggy Schirmer and other early childhood colleagues decided to take action against such testing of nuclear weapons by enlisting their fellow child educators, who shared their concern for the safety of children. CEASE, Concerned Educators for a Safe Environment, was born.
At the next NAEYC conference in 1980, CEASE sponsored a presentation by Dr. Helen Caldicott, a passionate voice bringing the dangers of radiation to international awareness. She galvanized the group which then devoted itself to lobbying against the nuclear testing which exposed those downwind to radiation as well as those in closer proximity. A limited ban on above ground testing was finally passed by the U.N. in 1963.
Meanwhile, CEASE members, Diane Levin and Nancy Carlson-Paige, and others, had expanded the concerns of CEASE to take on violence in the larger society. Their teaching and books focused on helping teachers and parents redirect war play at home and in schools. The organization took up the call for an end to toy guns, and violence in entertainment.
CEASE changed its name to Peace Educators Allied for Children Everywhere, P.E.A.C.E. in the early 2000s. The change was ratified at an annual meeting as members determined that nuclear dangers were not the leading issue for current members. The group’s focus should be explicitly on children and how to help them become peaceful together as they grow. Teachers and parents/caretakers need help in making this happen for children in their care.
Now we face the painful reality that nuclear weapons still threaten our world. They have been declared by treaty to be illegal, but they continue to exist and are being used as blackmail in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Almost 80 years later the need for activism in the face of this threat continues!
The groups listed in Resources for Action give ways to continue this work. We must lobby for budgets which support the needs of children and the families who care for them, not the militaristic priorities in the Pentagon spending, or the drastic proliferation of guns in our domestic environment.
In her 80s Helen Caldicott continues to raise her passionate voice to convince us to save our world!
“Nuclear war will create the final medical epidemic of the human race. Not just the human race, but all the plants and animals. At risk right now is billions of years of evolution and creation and we, you and I hold it in the palm of our hands.”
(Thanks to the Council for a Liveable World for printing this quote.)
Resources for Action
This is a limited selection from the many organizations working for peace and an end to military funding. As we are a child-focused organization this list starts with an Early Childhood Education program.
NAEYC, naeyc.org. NAEYC urges members to contact their legislators, especially Senators, to prioritize funding for childcare and quality programs. The House has passed the Defense Appropriations Bill with numerous amendments cutting funding for humanitarian programs, including those supporting children and families. The Senate must refuse such amendments and increase this critical funding. Resources need to be moved from the increased budget for the military.
Global Zero, globalzero.org. They are now joined with Beyond the Bomb. Their focus is on bringing the nine nuclear-armed states to negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Most non-nuclear armed states have signed on to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force in Jan 2021, but none of the nuclear-armed states has signed, including the U.S.!
Physicians for Social Responsibility, psr.org. This longtime antiwar group connects us to preventnuclearwar.org (Back From the Brink). Here are their five policy initiatives for change:
- Actively pursue verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed nations to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
- Renounce option for first use.
- End sole authority of the U.S. President to launch a nuclear attack.
- Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
- Cancel plans to replace the entire nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons. And refuse funding for newly designed weapons which are described as “usable nukes”. They should never be built! Tell your Senator.
Pace e Bene, paceebene.org. Their “Campaign Nonviolence Action Days” is a call to take action to end violence between Sept. 21, the U.N. International Day of Peace, to Oct. 2, the International Day of Non-Violence. They and their co-sponsors have many suggested actions to prevent gun violence and build training for communities.
Submitted by Lucy Stroock
