What’s the meaning of peace? Peace means equality, means respect. It means justice, hope and fraternity. Peace means love and friendship. Peace means freedom. Wherever a positive thing is, peace is there, too.
If everything good includes peace, then everybody wants to get it. But don’t forget that peace starts and finishes in ourselves. Try to be fair, try to be respectful and try to be a good friend each day. Respect freedom, respect everybody’s opinion. If you don’t agree, discuss it: it’s all right! That’s a very important way to achieve peace…
Peace goes like the butterfly effect does. Small actions change the world! At home, at school; try it. Lots of people have changed the world, and they were made of flesh and blood, like us! Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi, India became independent while he tried to build a better society, a society without castes. But Mahatma couldn’t have done this alone: he needed the support of his country, as Martin Luther King did it. He ended with segregation in the United States, like Nelson Mandela finished in South Africa. Peace also consists on fighting (peacefully) to allow girls to go to school, for example (as Malala Yousafzai) or being the first woman who is president in your country. That was the case of Benazir Bhuto in Pakistan.
“Come on girls, come on boys; it’s your future, it’s your choice, and your weapon is your voice: let’s make a new tomorrow today!” [A friend in London – New Tomorrow]
Change it with your music. Change it writing, or change it through sculpture or drawing. Change it protesting like French people did after the attacks of Charlie Hebdo. And in relation to this topic, don’t get confused: although several Islamic fundamentalists have carried out the attack, that doesn’t mean that every single Muslim supports them. Don’t spread irrational fear, because then you are going to collect war.
Rafael Díaz Tendero (1º Bachillerato A)
To finish, John Lennon’s masterpiece Imagine.
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
