This is incredible! A 4th grade teacher in Virginia named John Hunter came up with the World Peace Game in the late 1970’s and has been teaching it to his students ever since. There are 50 global issues the students need to solve and it can take up to 7 weeks to do so. The game is over once all countries are in a better position than when the game is started. Critical thinking skills are developed as realistic crises are presented to them and they are given full control to negotiate with other students and solve them.
Can you imagine the profound impact and real significance it would have if the World Peace Game became a standard curriculum for all 4th graders around the globe? Or if this became a mass produced board game that governments required parents to play with their pre-teens? In as little as 8 years by the time they become adults the world be undoubtedly cleaner and safer!
There is a section in the video posted below that describes one small component of the game where if a student is given the position of commander and loses any of their hypothetical troops, the commander has to write a letter of condolence to the parents. This is a huge lesson for the students on the connection and impact with have with others. John Hunter is truly World Minded, watch this video and prepare to be inspired!
About Charles Perry
Charles is a bit of a renaissance man, a citizen of the planet, a building inspector by trade, devoted father & husband and one of the funniest people he knows. He is deeply passionate about peace, social justice and respect and equality for all living creatures. Charles thought up the World Minded ideology several years ago and has made it his goal to inspire people around the world to care for themselves, others and the planet we share by exposing what’s right in the world. He resides in the Eastern Sierras and loves life in the mountains, but longs for the beach because of some ridiculous “grass is always greener” notion.
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