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Take Action - Stop the Wars
Stop the Wars!
CEASE has passed this Resolution, urging NAEYC and all early childhood organizations to speak out about the harm war causes to children where ever it is happening, and here in the U.S. as it undermines children’s sense of security and the hope that conflicts can be resolved without violence. War deprives children of the safety they need and the resources that should be devoted to their healthy development. CEASE urges the speedy end of the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war and the continued reliance on violence to resolve global conflicts. In 2009 we wrote to First Lady Michelle Obama [first tab below] and the NAEYC Governing Board [second tab] about this. And we must all speak out against violence as a solution to global problems. Please communicate with the President, stating your concerns in this area. Passionate advocacy for alternative solutions is needed. See more at www.peacefultomorrows.org
- Resolution
- Michelle Obama
- NAEYC Governing Board 2009
Resolution: War Harms Children!
Adopted by CEASE on June 3, 2006
CEASE THE WAR!
CEASE (Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment) opposes war, particularly the war in Iraq. War harms all children and families, worldwide. We urge you, our professional colleagues, and the organizations in which you participate, to join us in continuing action to contact elected officials to press them to do what they can to end United States military involvement in Iraq as soon as possible. Join us in urging our elected officials to seek a peaceful solution to the wars occurring in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Afghanistan and other countries engaged in violent conflict around the world.
War:
Drains the government resources which most low income children and their families need for meeting their basic human needs, and on which most children depend for the quality and affordability of their early care and education;
- Sets a bad example for young children by trying to resolve disputes by violence;
- Provides young children with role models of bullying and social isolation;
- Distracts the attention of their parents and other meaningful people in their lives from the important tasks related to helping them to grow, by stirring up internal and external conflicts among adults, just as the Vietnam War did;
- Is harmful to the environment.
Amended 9/6/06 CEASE Resolution
To support the above resolution, print the CEASE Resolution and share it with any groups and colleagues with whom you work. Ask them to join you in contacting the President, and all your representatives in Congress to urge them to bring a speedy end to the wars in which the U.S. is currently engaged, and change our national priorities to support the needs of children and their families.
To reach your legislators in Washington call: 202-225-3121
CEASE is a member-supported, volunteer organization. We hope you will join us on our Membership,
and learn more about how you get involved on our Take Action Page.
July 10, 2009
Michelle Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear First Lady Obama,
We are writing you on behalf of CEASE, Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment, a national organization of educators working for and with children. As part of that calling, we work to make the world a safer place for children’s growth, as you do for your own children.
We are deeply troubled by the costs of war to children. The almost universal principles of children’s rights embodied in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child require that “States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by armed conflict”. Yet wars murder far too many children and ruin the lives of surviving children worldwide. See, e.g., www.un.org/children/conflict, a recent report by Graça Machel to the United Nations entitled Children and Conflict in a Changing World. Even outside war zones, daily exposure to the violence of war builds a culture of fear and perpetuates violence. There are far too many American children who are orphaned or harmed by parents who serve or have served in our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Parents who return physically or psychologically wounded often limit their children’s opportunities by being unable to provide for them or by the parents’ own illnesses that often result in neglect or abuse of their children. The drain of military spending on Federal funding for social and educational funding continues to diminish the resources needed to help American children grow and succeed. The total impact of war on America’s children is profound. We thank you for what you are doing to help the children of military families, and we hope that you can do more for all children in this context.
We are encouraged by the empathetic presence that you and your family are modeling for the world. We are excited that you might be more of a voice for peace in creating a safe world for children and families.
Sincerely,
John Surr
For CEASE
July 10, 2009
Sue Russell, President
NAEYC
1330 L St., NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4041
Dear Sue,
Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment (CEASE) needs to share with you and the Governing Board and Staff of NAEYC our continuing strong concern for the safety, wellbeing and future prospects of the children in our care, as they are damaged by the war-making activities of the U.S. and other governments. We are deeply disturbed that NAEYC has not yet declared our Government’s participation in wars to be a threat to our children.
Article 38.4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which NAEYC supports under a 2003 decision of the Governing Board, requires that “In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties [to the Convention] shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by armed conflict.” In June, Graça Machel reported to the UN General Assembly about recent developments and prospects in that field, in http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/machel10.html, entitled Children and Conflict in a Changing World. Much too frequently, children in the United States are adversely affected by news of children suffering from wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other battle zones, or by the deprivations in their own families from parental involvement in war-making activities, or by losses in government backing for early childhood support systems because of the seemingly higher priorities of defense spending.
We request the Governing Board to prioritize the preparation and approval of a new position statement on violence in the lives of children which is consistent with the realities of the 21st Century and refers directly to war as a form of violence that affects our children. We are prepared to help NAEYC in these efforts. Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Surr and Craig Simpson, for CEASE