PUTTING PEACE FIRST

A handbook encouraging young people to make a difference right now, no matter their ages.

Dawson, co-founder of the global nonprofit Peace First, which invests in young peacemakers’ ideas, knows about putting peace into action. He details the steps to be taken and emotional support needed on a peacemaker’s journey. The majority of the book describes the seven commitments that Dawson believes are essential to becoming a peacemaker. These lean heavily into one another, and they’re made distinct by individual examples of young peacemakers’ own stories of change. Issues of cyberbullying, gun violence, and attacks on immigrant students are ones that are faced in these pages and also every day in schools around the world. By internalizing the seven commitments, standing up, and taking action—choosing to put peace first—Dawson argues, the world could change, one student at a time. These anecdotes are inspirational, but Dawson also includes a practical starting guide for any readers who need concrete steps on how to begin to think and plan for change. Dawson is careful to point out (the seventh commitment is “Keep Trying,” and the epilogue is aptly named “Pending Disasters”) that nothing is perfect.

Change is difficult, especially if you are trying to right an injustice, but this manual helps readers past excuses.