School Day of Non-violence and Peace

School Day of Non-violence and Peace, sometimes abbreviated with the acronym DENIP or DENYP, which stems from the Spanish name for the day, Dia Escolar de la No-violencia y la Paz, is observed in schools all around the world on the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi, a purveyor of peace and nonviolence. The message of the day is: "Universal love, non-violence and peace. Universal love is better than egoism, non-violence is better than violence, and peace is better than war."

The day was founded in 1964 in Majorca, one of the Spanish Balearic Islands, by Llorenç Vidal Vidal, a Spanish poet. He created it as an initiative for and to support pacifying and non-violent education, seeing it as a starting point on a path to building a permanent character based on the principles of tolerance, harmony, solidarity, respect for human rights, peace, and non-violence. In the creation of the day, Vidal was influenced by Lanza del Vasto, a disciple of Gandhi, and his book, Return to the Sources. The day doesn't have any official programming, and each educational institution can participate as they see fit. All countries are invited to take part. Schools with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar often celebrate it on March 30.

How to Observe School Day of Non-violence and Peace

If you are an educator, focus on non-violence and peace in your lessons today. Many lessons about the topics can be found online. You can participate however you wish, but keeping the day's message in mind may be helpful: "Universal love, non-violence and peace. Universal love is better than egoism, non-violence is better than violence, and peace is better than war." If you don't work in a classroom, you can still focus your day on non-violence and peace. You could read Return to the Source by Lanza del Vasto, The Essential Gandhi, or a book on nonviolence. You could also watch a film that focuses on peace.

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