those of us who endlessly debate and define the future of education and the skills that students will need in the 21st century...we express concern about how students will fare in the global economy, how they will face the challenges of the future, whether they will have the literacies needed to manuever this new information society. But we rarely, if ever, talk about how to prepare students to address the challenges of violence and be part of building a culture of peace. And all too often, we try to isolate students from the world into which we will send them and protect them within the "reality" inside the four walls of a school, which often are not really safe at all.

What are we doing to make schools safe places where the learning process is not disrupted by violence, whether routine or unfathomable? Why do we continue to fail to equip students with the ability to understand the reality of violence and the skills to transform conflict? What changes can we make, and what new skills and values can we teach, to make our students both problem-solvers and peacemakers?

Tonight, more than usual, i'm falling short on answers and trying to just live the questions.