Encourage youth to promote peace

Over the weekend, a victim of the O’Reilly Senior School stabbing, Edward Borketey Sackey, was laid to rest.

This tragic incident takes me back to 2021 when the final year students of Nyinahin Catholic School in the Ashanti Region allegedly set the school’s boys’ dormitory on fire.

Such violent acts highlight the devastating impact of violence and the absence of peace on young lives.

Incidents of this nature are, therefore, communicating and creating an increasing awareness of the potential role Peace Education can play in addressing challenges relating to violence among children and young people.

According to the U.S Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, youth violence is the intentional use of physical force or power to threaten or harm others by young people between ages 10 and 24.

The centre considers youth violence a public health problem, which can have a long-term impact on health, opportunity and well-being.

A threat to one’s health, opportunity and well-being signifies the absence of peace, thus, the need for peace education in our various schools, starting from creche to the university level.

This primarily aspires to promote a culture of peaceful co-existence and prevent the incidence of violent conflicts.

Ghana will be heading to the polls in less than two months, and these young ones can be prone to political manipulation when enticed with money to incite violence, threatening the peace we all enjoy.

It is believed that young people are often on the frontlines of electoral violence, fighting for the interests of a political party.

As we invest in our electoral processes to ensure a free and fair election, let us collectively make it a point to encourage schools, churches NGOs and other stakeholders to empower young people to promote peace and security, to give them a voice in national development and governance.

Ashorkor Amarh.
E-mail: ashorkor40@gmail.com