Schools as peace zones: A shared responsibility
Recent events involving school safety have understandably unsettled parents and communities. We naturally look to schools to do everything possible to protect our children. But even when schools strengthen security measures and prepare for emergencies, there is a larger question we must continue to ask: How do we build communities where children learn not only to be safe but also to become part of the solution to violence and conflict?
At the Philippine Women’s University–Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (PWU JASMS), the idea of a school as a place of peace goes back decades. In fact, it was partly a response to a crisis that many may remember: the Persian Gulf War.
At a time when images of war were entering homes through television and newspapers, the school chose to respond in a way that placed children at the center of the conversation. PWU JASMS became a Peace School and Zone of Peace, developing peace-building activities particularly during the late 1980s and 1990s, including initiatives undertaken with partners such as the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Children were not simply told about peace. They were encouraged to speak about it. Students wrote to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, expressing their hopes for peace and asking leaders to help build a more peaceful society. They participated in a Peace Walk from our former campus on Edsa to the Quezon Memorial Circle, bringing children’s voices beyond the school grounds.
Perhaps most memorable was the Peace Garden, where children symbolically buried toy guns and other war toys. It was a simple act, but a powerful one: a child’s declaration that weapons and violence should not define the world they would inherit.
The JASMS Peace Bell, traditionally rung each day, became another reminder. Its sound invited children to pause and reflect on peace. The message was simple: being a “peace warrior” meant choosing dialogue over violence, compassion over hostility, and understanding over aggression.
Decades later, our circumstances in schools may be different, but the need for that message has not disappeared.
Today, conversations about school safety understandably focus on security. Gates, guards, surveillance, emergency procedures, and preparedness matter. Schools have a responsibility to examine and strengthen these continually. But even the best security system cannot replace relationships.
Children are safest when the adults around them are attentive and connected. Teachers and school personnel may notice changes that parents do not see; parents may recognize concerns that never reach the classroom. Counselors, advisers, and other trusted adults can provide children with spaces to speak before a problem becomes a crisis. This is why a partnership between school and home is essential.
Parents can help by creating an environment where children feel safe to speak openly, paying attention to changes in behavior and online activity, guiding responsible digital use, reinforcing school procedures, and ensuring that potentially dangerous items in the home, particularly firearms, are securely stored and inaccessible to children.
Schools, on their part, must remain willing to listen, communicate, and work with families when concerns arise. Safety, ultimately, is not something a school can guarantee by itself. It is a shared responsibility.
The Peace Zone created at JASMS decades ago reminds us of something important: when children are surrounded by adults who choose peace, dialogue, vigilance, and care, they learn that these are not merely words. They become ways of living.
We cannot promise our children a world without danger. But we can help create schools and homes where they know that when danger or difficulty comes, they will not face it alone.
Perhaps that is the deeper meaning of a Zone of Peace—a lesson worth remembering now.
Diana Cynthia G. Gutierrez,
dgutierrez@pwu.edu.ph
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