World peace is a lofty goal. While it may seem unattainable for adults, fourth graders in John Hunter's class achieve it on a regular basis. Hunter is the creator of The World Peace Game. You probably guessed the objective of the game. However, the value for students, teachers and parents goes beyond reaching a theoretical stasis. In order to better understand the benefits of The World Peace Game you'll need to know how it works.
World Peace Game: The Basics
Hunter has been using this game in his classroom for 30 years. Because of this, it would be impossible to give a detailed summary of the game's intricacies in a short blog post. However, there are a few overarching rules that dictate play.
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1. Every child has a nation and a role, e.g. Prime Minister or Weather God/Goddess.
2. Students are presented with 50 global problems to solve including: climate change, chemical warfare, oil spills and religious conflict.
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3. Every nation has to win.
World Peace Game: The Benefits
The game typically lasts several weeks. Along the way children learn different methods of problem solving. They'll need to compromise and work together in order to achieve world peace. This isn't easy because the game is modeled on real world situations. There are four "nations," each with different interests and levels of prosperity.
Hunter has never had a class fail to achieve world peace, although there have been some close calls. Hunter relates a story about a child who was a bully. Hunter decided to make him Prime Minister in the hopes that having actual power would teach responsibility. The experiment backfired. The child started taking over other nations until he got to the last one. Members of that nation staged a coup. The bully lost his power, but instead of shunning him, he was given a new role within a nation.
Hunter's game is about more than world peace. It's about cooperation, understanding and empathy. If you'd like to learn more you can watch Hunter's Ted Talk by clicking on this link or you can visit his website.
Have your children participated in Hunter’s World Peace Game? We’d love to hear about their experience!