Peace Party works for the children...

Good ideas . . . kids want money spent on helping not hurting 

By JOHN MORRIS,
Peace Party National Organiser

In 2014, year 7 pupils at a Surrey school had a mock election. 

One class took on the mantle of The Peace Party and produced the following manifesto:

"Stop spending money on the army and weapons. We can spend the money saved on helping people instead of hurting them.

"Give children a say in their own education. Children are individuals and every child's needs at school will be different. Every child should have a choice of which subjects and topics they study.

"Buses and trains should be free to use. This will discourage people from driving cars and will help our environment."

The Party also produced a stunning video and then achieved second place out of six in the final poll. 

An example to us all!

Earlier this year, Peace Party's Chesterfield candidate Tommy Holgate met with UKYP (United Kingdom Youth Parliament) representative for Derbyshire Rachel Wibberly, to discuss the issues most prevalent in the minds of school leavers.

Living wage, increased funding for mental health services, and an end to tuition fees were high up on their agenda.

All things that we too would like to see in occurrence.

Not only this, but the implementation of a 'curriculum for life' which would incorporate more realistic life skills into the education of 11-16-year-olds, such as finances, sex & relationships and even politics.

The consensus was that - by the age of 16 - people DO want to be able to make a change to society but feel under-equipped due to a lack of relevant education on the political system.

This curriculum for life idea tallies up with the Surrey school children who wanted to have more control over what they studied. 

There seems to be a theme running through; that people want more control over their lives, even from a young age.

Yearning for learning . . . pupils would like more input into what they study

Here is our 'approach to education' in brief...

1. Education should be free at all levels, and should be clearly distinguished from 'training' (for work), which should generally be paid for by employers.

2. Encourage and facilitate constructive dialogue between parents and teachers.

3. Abolish the National Curriculum and encourage the development of flexible pupil-based curricula through discussion between pupils, teachers and where appropriate, parents.

4. Develop new approaches to teaching that respect the place of the pupil as an active participant.

5. Encourage the study of the place of the individual in society and politics, and of alternative approaches to conflict.

6. Encourage critical thinking and an awareness of cultural and nationalistic propaganda in conventional historical narratives.

Click HERE to view our education policy in full.

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I've heard people say: 

"You won't get spiritually conscious action in Parliament for love nor money."

But maybe one day we could. With a little bit of either.

Feel free to contribute to our 2015 General Election crowdfund campaign or follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit our website.