Convention on the Rights of the Child
Our current focus is working with many others across the country to get the USA to ratify the U. N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). See our page on the CRC ratification campaign for more information.

Who we are
Parents, educators, concerned citizens and others who believe peacemaking starts with each of us and our families, and that we each can make a difference through how we choose to live and act daily. We also believe we must cooperate to make systems more responsive to the needs of children and all of us.
We operate under the auspices of the Grand Rapids, Michigan based Institute for Global Education, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Our Vision
A world in which all children have family love, clean air to breathe, clean water, comprehensive health care, adequate nutritious food, secure homes, and full educational and recreational opportunity; a world where none are abused, neglected, deliberately hurt, or demeaned.
Parents have all the material, educational, social, and spiritual support they need to reach their best potential and pass the same opportunity on to their children.
All government, business, educational, non-profit, and other institutions work together to implement these values and goals.

How we operate
We work toward our vision in the following ways:

Education
We compile and disseminate information on what parenting for peace means and what it can do, and on how parents and children can best be supported. We arrange public discussions and other events. We offer speakers. We maintain a website. We provide or refer people to other resources.

Advocacy
We promote changes that help parents and children reach their potential. Such changes include nurturing, non-judgmental approaches to parents, and respectful dialogue with children. We reach out to those in government, education, various other institutions, and the community generally

Cooperation
We work with other institutions and individuals, and seek to unite diverse groups.

Some pertinent facts
Relating to children in a respectful, loving, nonviolent manner correlates later with more peaceful behavior, greater tolerance, better school performance, less depression, and several other positive outcomes.
The single greatest difference between people who joined or passively accepted Hitler’s Nazi Party and those who resisted it was the way they were raised as children. Nazism grew in a country with the harshest and most punitive discipline; it was unable to establish such strong roots in other countries where children were treated less harshly.
The United Nations has called for an end to all hitting or demeaning treatment of children. Two dozen countries, most of them within the last few years, have adopted laws accordingly. ALL U. N. member countries with an effective government except the USA have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which could greatly improve children’s lives worldwide.

Endorsing organizations:
Endorsers embrace our mission and will support each other where possible. 
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Kent County branch
Men’s Resource Center
Institute for Global Education
Hard Times Café of Grand Rapids
Green Party of Kent County
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy
Criminal Justice Chaplaincy
 
[If you are part of a group that might like to endorse, please contact us.]
 
For further information contact:
Parenting for Peace
c/o Institute for Global Education
P. O. Box 68039
Grand Rapids, MI, 49516
(616)-454-1642
ige@iserv.net
www.iserv.net/~ige/pfp
 
Most of this information, including various graphics, is also available in a brochure. See the links to bring up the brochure.
 
Links:  brochure  resources  history  Convention on the Rights of the Child campaign