Peace Games vet spreads inspiration one at a time

Serghino René

It was approximately twelve years ago that Chike Ibeabuchi joined Peace Games, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the national trend of violence by teaching children at an early age to become peacemakers in their schools, a role whose importance he understands all too well.

Ibeabuchi didn’t exactly have the most peaceful school experience as a child.

Born and raised in Boston and a product of the Boston Public School system, he was often teased by his fellow peers. Being deemed smart and having the ability to speak properly made him a primary candidate for ridicule. Nothing was wrong with him, but he didn’t know that.

It was Eric Dawson, founder of the Peace Games organization, who approached Ibeabuchi and commented on the potential he couldn’t see.

“He told me that I was a good role model and I realized that people realized that,” said Ibeabuchi. “It was helpful to know that there were people out there who were willing to be there for me.

He had no reason to get caught up in crime, nor did he do drugs or go to jail. He saw beyond and all it took was someone to bring it out of him.

“I charge myself to be my own instrument of change,” said Ibeabuchi.

Now, the Hyde Park native and Boston College graduate feels it is his obligation to help other young people like himself. Ibeabuchi acts as a program coordinator at the Boston Area Health Education Center, helping to manage a program that supports Boston youth interested in health professions through academic enrichment and internship placement. As a Peace Games graduate, he was a founding member of the Peace Games Teen Council and presently serves on the Peace Games board.

Ibeabuchi was one of five panelists at a discussion entitled “Why Does Peacemaking Matter?” which was held July 20 at Lesley University as part of the inaugural Peace Games National Conference. Other conference panelists included Mission Grammar School Principal Maura Bradley, Springfield College Assistant Dean and Campus Director Ulrich Johnson and Penny Snider-Light, a peace representative from the World Peace Prayer Society.

Panelists discussed social justice, violence in the city of Boston and the role of peacemaking in school environments and in urban policy.

“Killing in the streets is not new,” said Johnson. “Peace and justice is a lifestyle, an ideology. You as an individual have to be peace and justice.”

But Snider-Light summed it up best when she said, “Nothing will happen in our external world if our internal world is not authentic.”

The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that every day 315 children are arrested for committing a violent crime, with teens experiencing the highest rate of violent crime of any age group.

Peace Games sends college students and community volunteers into Boston area classrooms to work with elementary and junior high school students teaching violence prevention and conflict resolution. The 18-week curriculum is comprised of lessons that emphasize role-playing, games and discussions. The curriculum changes to accommodate developmental needs of children, but it brings together diverse groups of students to challenge themselves. Peace Games addresses complex issues of violence on a personal, community and global level, encouraging students to become catalysts for creative change in their own communities.

The end of the forum featured a series of concurrent workshops that offered insight and perspective. They included “How Peace Games Works: Real Stories from a School,” “Using Games to Build a Community,” “Peacemaking and the Arts” and “Peacemaking and Gender Violence.”