Central England Quakers’ branch Peacemakers (West Midlands Quaker Peace Education Project) report on a special event held with young people:

As part of our Minus Violence Plus Peace Project we worked with groups of young people to provoke discussions around peace as a counter to the violence experienced daily in music, on TV and in relationships. In these sessions the young people shared their thoughts about the idea of minus violence plus peace. Some of their messages to others include:

‘There is always someone to help you, don’t use weapons.’

‘If you are in a drug gang you can’t get out.’

‘I would like to tell people my experience of stuff and I would also want to listen to what they have to say. I would want to tell them who I am and see how similar they are.’ 

‘There is a box in school to put names of people who carry knives. I would use it to save a life.’

To further promote these messages, we held a Peace Platform Event, where we brought together the young people from the schools we had worked with. Our Peace Platform Event was an opportunity for the young people to explore and solidify the messages they wanted to share after the Minus Violence Plus Peace Project. The event evoked thought-provoking discussions surrounding the idea of reducing violence and promoting peace.

To celebrate the success of the Minus Violence Plus Peace Project we filmed the Peace Platform Event and interviewed some of those involved in our project. Please watch and share this video below.