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PLACE Your Activities on the Peace Map!
We are in Peace Month (September) and the final countdown to the 37th annual International Day of Peace!
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It is especially important to share your Peacebuilding activities on the universal Peace Map! You can add your activities for the world to see, and for people interested in joining you, by clicking here: https://
Peace Month is particularly significant this year as we honor the 20th Anniversary of The UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, which is September 13th: A/RES/53/243 B Adopted by the United Nations in 1999, The Declaration and Programme of Action serves as a reminder of the importance of making Peace Day every day. The theme for the 20th Anniversary Observance is: “Empowering and Transforming Humanity.” And, we know that you are committed to doing that every day!
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THINK KINDNESS, WE CHARITY, COUNT ME IN CHAMPION KINDNESS WORLD WIDE
There’s a growing crisis among young people today. One-in-five students report being bullied, cyberbullying is on the rise, and teen suicide is at a record high. As these problems continue to worsen, many adults may be left scratching their heads. How do we stop this crisis and help our youth?
There are a lot of possible answers, but there’s one that I’d like to pose today that I think is too often overlooked: kindness.
Yes, the simple act of kindness – not just witnessing it, but participating in it – has the ability to change people’s lives for the better. To make our world safer and happier for our children, we need to be teaching them how to be kind at home, at school, and in their communities.
This may seem overly simple, but science backs it up. According to research from places like Harvard and UC Berkeley, among others, acts of kindness release chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin and oxytocin, which reduce depression and anger and boost overall happiness.
Being kind isn’t something we should just mention to our kids in passing – it should be an integral part of their daily activities.
As the founder of Think Kindness, I am blessed to have an incredible job. I go into schools all across the country and help kids tap into their inner kindness potential. In my ten years here, I’ve seen some amazing results. For instance, after my very first speech, a student who struggled with suicidal thoughts wrote me to tell me how getting involved in helping others radically changed his life for the better.
Luckily, Think Kindness isn’t the only organization that makes kindness its mission.
There’s a group called Count Me In, founded and led by youth, which helps to connect young people with volunteer opportunities in their communities and around the world. To date, the organization has inspired over 100 million volunteer hours. In addition, Count Me In has an annual leadership summit which serves as a bootcamp training kids how to be volunteers and do good in the world. I am also blessed to sit on the advisory board for such a powerful and meaningful organization.
Similarly, there’s an organization in Canada called the WE Charity which does incredible work to connect kids to acts of kindness. For instance, WE offers volunteer trips to impoverished communities around the world, giving young people a powerful chance to make a real difference for people in need.
They also host what they call We Days, which draw hundreds of thousands of children into stadiums across the world to hear nspirational messages about doing good around the world.
Organizations like these and others are essential to turning the tide of anger, depression, and sadness among our youth today.
But they need backup, because according to one study, youth volunteering has gone down over the last fifteen years. All of us – parents, teachers, community leaders – need to promote kindness to young people.
We can do it in two ways: first and foremost, by showing kindness ourselves; second, by connecting our kids to groups which can give them the tools they need to be conduits of kindness everywhere they go.
Let’s get to it – it just might change the world.
With Kindness,
Brian Williams
President & Founder, Think Kindness
#BeKindTogether
WE, THE FUTURE GENERATION, ASK YOU TO CHOOSE US
On September 20, three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, young people and adults will strike all across the US and world to demand transformative action be taken to address the climate crisis. Millions of us will take the streets to demand a right to a future, and we’re inviting you to
#strikewithus
Whether you’re 7 or 77, you’re invited to join the movement.
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From Bill McKibben:
Dear Friends,
“Last week I ended up in jail for a little while, because I’d sat down in a Congress member’s office to protest the deadly confluence of climate and immigration policy. You can read about my day in the New Yorker1 story shared on the bottom of this email, but my point in sharing it with you is not to say that I acted nobly or that it was a big deal.
Instead, my point is simply that sometimes you have to act even if you’re not entirely sure what the effect will be. We’re coming up on the next great moment in the climate movement, the global all-ages climate strike on Sept. 20. Years of sustained resistance from Standing Rock to the school strikes and beyond, particularly from youth of color, have led us to this moment. So let’s make the most of it.
Whatever you do that day — whether you walk out of work or school, close down your business, or join a protest, it will help build the groundswell that is now clearly rising.
When you strike, you’ll be striking for justice above all — it’s one thing you can do on behalf of those who are incarcerated at the border, or who are living so close to the margin that taking a day off is not possible. If you have some flexibility in your life, it’s time to put it to work. If you don’t, sign up anyway, we’ll find other ways for you to participate and show your support.
The UN’s best guess is that unchecked climate change could produce a billion climate refugees this century. Think about that for a moment — a billion people whose lives would be utterly, permanently, devastatingly upended. Then think about whether you can take a day to do something real about it, even without knowing exactly what change it will produce.
Together we build movements, and when those movements get big enough they change history. You change history. Thank you for being a big part of it –
Let’s make change, “
Bill McKibben
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For more information, please visit strikewithus.org.
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ABOUT
We, as a global society, are at a crossroads. We have a decision to make. Are we going to choose money or power or are we going to choose the future? The September 20 strike is an invitation to everyone to choose us. Choose the kids, choose humanity, choose the future.
Led by a diverse coalition of youth-led and adult-led organizations,
September 20 is an intergenerational day of striking
that will launch an entire week of climate action across the world.
September 20 is only the beginning. We must carry this energy to the 2020 elections, and beyond to ensure real, bold action is taken to address the climate crises. This is history in the making, and it’s time we take back the narrative to save our futures.
The demands set forth by the youth coalition will be released soon.
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