Young children's understanding of war and peace

Abstract

Forty‐nine prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first‐grade children were interviewed and asked eight questions directed at their understandings and attitudes about war and peace. The children were also asked to select, from a box of small toys, four toys they would use to play war. Most children defined war by describing the aggressive actions of fighting, shooting, and blowing‐up. How wars begin and end was less understood. An attitude of rejection of war existed at these ages, increasing with age and stronger for females. Most of the children who felt they had viewed wars identified television as their source. Toys selected for war play consisted of figures who can be seen in aggressive, war‐like actions. Peace was understood primarily as a state of quietness or privacy. Implications of this study for peace education curricula are discussed.