Peacebuilders Programs

Take a group of rich kids from south of Ventura Boulevard and bring them together with a rainbow of ethnically diverse kids from poorer neighborhoods to the north and it can make for a volatile mix. To break down the racial, cultural and socioeconomic barriers that had kept students apart, Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School officially launched its PeaceBuilders program Monday to help students appreciate the ways they are the same and to value their special differences.

Take a group of rich kids from south of Ventura Boulevard and bring them together with a rainbow of ethnically diverse kids from poorer neighborhoods to the north and it can make for a volatile mix. To break down the racial, cultural and socioeconomic barriers that had kept students apart, Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School officially launched its PeaceBuilders program Monday to help students appreciate the ways they are the same and to value their special differences.

One child dreams of moving out of the area because the frequent gunfire means no chance to play. Another's only wish is that her parents would stop taking drugs. Others don't like to walk to school because they fear crime. These are stories commonly told by students at Ritter Elementary School in Watts. Noted psychologist Dennis Embry hears such fear and apprehension a lot too--but from the children of soldiers coping with war.

One child dreams of moving out of the area because the frequent gunfire means no chance to play. Another's only wish is that her parents would stop taking drugs. Others don't like to walk to school because they fear crime. These are stories commonly told by students at Ritter Elementary School in Watts. Noted psychologist Dennis Embry hears such fear and apprehension a lot too--but from the children of soldiers coping with war.