The Hindu : International : Promoting peace through a game

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

International

International

Promoting peace through a game

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB. 15. Sri Lanka's quest for sustainable peace will shortly rope in a vital constituency — its children — through an indigenously conceived board game "Friends".

The game, to be introduced jointly by the Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) and the Ministry of Education, is "original, conceived with Sri Lanka's peace process in mind and has elements of [popular board games such as] "Snakes & Ladders" and "Monopoly" built into it," said Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary-General, SCOPP. It plans to disseminate 30,000 packs of the game through schools under the Ministry.

The game, to be produced in Sinhala, Tamil and English uses friendship as its basis. It introduces "ideas of sharing, caring and respect for people, regardless of caste, creed, religion or ethnicity," Mr. Dhanapala said. He was delivering the 15th J.E. Jayasuriya Memorial Lecture on "Education for a Sustainable Culture of Peace" to commemorate one of Sri Lanka's well-known educationalists.

"Friends" — intended for children in the age-group 9 to 12 — is designed to be played by groups of seven or eight children, in the presence of a "judge," who could be a parent, teacher or youth group leader. It also introduces important conflict resolution/negotiation skills in innovative ways and combines a "non-subjective gaming element" with a "more subjective skill- based element." The prototype has already been developed as a "comprehensive, interactive resource for peace-building through children" and to "create a neutral platform for interaction and learning."

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