https://nnomy.org/peaceclubs/ | español -
Pat Alviso / Military Families Speak Out - If you enjoy working with youth and want to create and sustain a culture of peace in your community, consider starting a peace club. The guide below is a springboard that we hope will inspire you and give you the information you need to start and build a lasting peace club and avoid some of the pitfalls several of us learned the hard way.
Why Start a Peace Club?
Starting and supporting a peace club in your area can be some of the most rewarding work you will ever experience. You get the opportunity to work with youth and be a part of a change for generations to come. You can make a big difference in your community by helping our youth become aware that there are alternatives to war and violence and that they have the power to make changes for peace. At many high schools, military recruiters roam campuses unchecked, collect phone numbers and bring an alarming amount of information inside schools that glorifies war and promotes military enlistment as just another career choice. This goes on almost daily in high school campuses around the nation with few challenging these messages, even though most veterans do not gain employment related to the training they receive in the military.
Every day our youth make uninformed decisions about joining the military just because they never hear the other side of the story. We have found that students are looking for direction and so it is easy to believe what military recruiters tell them: they can get a bonus, can get free training for a good and respected career, free medical and housing, travel and get out of their home. Peace clubs can provide accurate information to students and get the word out that there are peaceful careers. Peace clubs can inform students of alternatives to the military, help them challenge the many forms of militarism that are on full display in their schools and they can learn and practice the skills they need in order to create and model peace and tolerance in their own lives and communities.
What is a Peace Club?
Most comprehensive public high schools have clubs that meet on campus every week at lunch or after school. They provide a place for students with common interests to learn more, participate and be a part of a social group during their free time. Some examples of clubs are the chess club, photography, United Nations, MECHA, Debate, Gay Straight Alliance, 4H, American Red Cross and Drama. All clubs require an interested teacher to supervise club meetings for legal and safety reasons, and they require approval of the activity director or some administrator. Each school has their own qualifications to approve a club, but the teacher sponsor will help with that. We believe the best and most successful peace clubs will address the heavy presence of militarism in our schools, find ways for students to push back against predatory military recruitment practices and reduce the presence of militarism in our schools and communities.
Best Practices:
There is no definitive guide that explains exactly what a peace club should or shouldn’t be.
We strongly believe the best practice for successful peace clubs is to have student led activities. This means that students should have a meaningful regular presence and input in the focus of your club’s activities. You will find that the topic of peace is very large and encompasses many areas such as justice, counter-recruitment, human rights, leadership training, and stopping wars and the hot topic of the day. Students all will have different ideas of what a peace club is and your job as a community sponsor will be to make sure that students become aware of how prevalent militarism is in our schools and communities. This is where you need to do your homework to find out what is happening at your school. Is there an ROTC program? Do the counselors promote the military? Where are the military recruiters and their messages? ( check counseling offices, library, career center and many on campus ceremonies.) There are many ways you can bring this up and let students know what off campus activities are addressing issues important to them such as anti-war groups, films, speakers-such as Veterans for Peace or About Face Veterans Against the War., and the update truth in recruitment materials and many detailed plans for successful actions you can find at National Network Opposed to the Militarization of Youth ( nnomy.org.) As students lead their club they will come up with many of their own ideas. Your job is to inspire them with all the material that is already out there. Also, there are many topics related to militarism such as ICE activity, climate change, writing politicians to stop war and more.
The Commitment
Planning to attend a school every week during the school year for about 30 minutes, may not seem like a big commitment, but it is. Expect that you will be involved in agenda planning before or after club meetings, and debriefing sessions afterwards. It’s not easy to get meeting time with your leadership because they are going from one class to another. Ask your teacher for guidance here as there are tools such as Remind 101 and digital communication. You will also need to be at every peace club event you plan off-campus. If you or most of your club officers don’t attend off-campus events, why should they? Each event will require you to do much planning beforehand such as getting materials ready and approved and transportation if necessary. (think parents of leadership). Some schools require permission slips and some do not. Learn the rules so your club can support your teacher and keep your club going. If you are unable to be there at most of the club meetings, you really should look for other ways to make an impact at your school, (see below for ideas) or get a partner who is willing to be there and can cover for you when you can’t make it. Like teachers, you will have summers and holidays off. Usually this includes a week off in the spring and about three weeks in the Fall and Winter breaks. You may also find that some of your best planned days will be cancelled without notice to you due to assemblies, special schedules etc. Try to remember that this has nothing to do with your club being accepted or not and teachers deal with this every day. Just go with it. Your teacher sponsor and community partner will be your best support.
Student Rights
What many teachers know and few outsiders realize, is that students have more free speech rights while they are on campus than their teachers and administrators have. Students are very happy to learn that they can pass out literature, print ads in school newspapers and promote almost any controversial point of view while at school as long as it isn’t disruptive. “The Bill of Rights” and various court decisions grant them the right to hand out leaflets, wear arm bands and organize free speech activities as long as they stay within reasonable time, place and manner guidelines established by the school.
For more information, refer to the document “Equal Access to Counter Militarism in High School, (Rev. 2006) an invaluable and extensive guide for student rights on the issue of free speech and counter recruitment, which can be found at: (https://projectyano.org/pdf/Equalaccess2006.pdf)
Getting Started
You really only need two adults to run a peace club, and one may include your teacher sponsor. It is strongly recommended that you find a young, like-minded, college-age person to join your team. (Consider interns and offering honorariums). High school youth love meeting people closer to their age doing peace work, they make terrific role models and if they are in college, their schedules align easily. They also serve as role models for higher education. They are also invaluable source for advice regarding what activities will most likely be popular and which are likely to flop. This person can substitute for you when you can’t be there, and can have a larger presence at club meetings. Equally important is for you to enlist a local organization, such as a peace and justice group that will support the idea of starting a peace club in your area and is one that you can work closely with and report to regularly. Look for a local chapter of Veterans for Peace or other peace and justice group. Such organizational support is invaluable for getting speakers, financial and the human support you will need to provide prizes, treats, literature, supervision at events and drivers. More importantly, the people in your support organization can serve as steering guides, sounding boards, lend you energy, moral support and keep you on track. Getting a community organization on board can also help your peace club survive in the long run because principals need to show community support and are obliged to listen to them. Often these groups are cited as community stakeholders in school accreditation reports.
How to Gain Access to Your School.
The most critical and first step in starting a peace club is finding a teacher who is willing to be the club sponsor. However, this will probably be the most challenging task you will encounter when starting a peace club because you are asking a teacher who may not know you, and is probably overworked and overrun by kids all day long, to take on an additional assignment and give up their lunch break once a week. Your teacher sponsor will be incredibly valuable to you because they will get approvals, run interference, arrange permission, make announcements become a general ambassador between the club, the community and school administrators. Adding to their burden is the fact that teachers worry about job security or possible repercussions. And even though the topic of “peace” seems relatively benign, it can invite controversy in the school setting. (Think anti- American and student walkouts or unrest.) It’s important for community sponsors to know that peace club teacher sponsors are putting themselves out there and open for criticism from their colleagues and administrative bosses. That said, you are also in a position to make this request easier for a teacher to accept by offering to do the heavy lifting- that means making sure the students are entertained and busy during meetings so the teacher can feel comfortable doing some catch up including lunch and bathroom and so many other things they need to do before the bell rings. Make sure the room is picked up afterwards and chairs and desks back in order, help usher students who want to linger out the door so the teacher can get ready for the next class and that they can trust you to follow the school safety rules. Even though your club meeting may feel rushed, remember, you provide a window for the school and students to have community support and offer fresh ideas that are sorely needed in many schools. Do not be discouraged if the process of obtaining a teacher sponsor takes a year or more. Remember, many teachers believe in peace and dozens of other clubs already exist on most high school campuses. Don’t give up. Acquiring a good teacher who believes in you is worth the wait.
If you can’t find a teacher sponsor, and are anxious to get started inside the school, you may find like-minded clubs such as justice or progressive politically-oriented clubs already meeting on campus. It just may be easier and smoother to start your peace club by joining already existing club. See below. Make an appointment to talk to that club’s teacher sponsor and let them know what you have to offer such as speakers, community support and an opportunity for students to learn how to make the world a better place.
Finally, consider the fact that many high schools are extremely complex large communities of young people going through significant intellectual and physical changes. We are asking for a seat at their table and being confrontational is usually counter-productive and we are guests. Always keep this in mind when you approach any school staff about starting your peace club.
Important Advisory: There is an extensive amount information on gaining access to schools that can be found in the important resource booklet “Using Equal Access to Counter Militarism in the High Schools” by Rick Jahnkow. (https://projectyano.org/pdf/Equalaccess2006.pdf) Please read this guide carefully before considering other methods of gaining access to a high school as litigation may negatively affect past court decisions on student’s rights
Tips for Finding a Teacher Sponsor:
Your search for a teacher sponsor could include talking to students, teachers, para-educators/teacher aides, graduates from your school, working staff such as campus security, librarians, cafeteria or other school staff members, or people who have family or work in that particular district in which you would like to sponsor. Just ask them if they know of a friendly teacher.
- Ask students or staff if they already have a peace club at their high school. Sometimes a club may have a like- minded name like a justice or civil rights group. Consider asking if you can add your peace agenda to theirs. One active group in Orange County CA worked through a MECHA (Chicano Student Association) group; another is part of an AIDS Prevention student exchange project between students at a school in Lakewood, CA and students at Manenberg High School in South Africa.
- Get contacts from students by asking if they know of a teacher on their campus that they think favors students’ rights, justice, is into politics or even protesting. Sometimes they refer to these teachers as hippies! Try addressing your local teacher’s union meeting or Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Sometimes other peace activists know like-minded teachers, so ask to be included on the agenda for their organization
- Distribute flyers at a well-attended event in your school community. Be on the lookout for and take time to meet teachers and students who may pass by and ask if they might be interested in starting a peace club. Leave them with a simple business-sized card asking, “Are you or a teacher you know interested in starting a peace club at _____High School?”
Preparing for Day 1
Once you have a teacher sponsor, the hardest part is done- now it’s time to work out the details. Start your planning by asking school staff or search online for the school’s calendar which has the regular and special day schedules for the upcoming school year. You will need this to plan your club meeting days. Prepare ideas for activities around seasonal dates such as Martin Luther King Day or Memorial Day. (See sample calendar below). Usually, clubs must submit their by-laws and participate in Club Rush. By-laws don’t usually take much time to complete, is usually a paragraph or two on a form. Your teacher sponsor can help. It sounds tedious, but it’s usually just a matter of submitting your application which asks for the club’s mission, club officers, meeting times etc. Ask your teacher sponsor for a sample application and since your teacher or club president will most likely be the one to submit this for approval, meet deadlines for submission, which is often before the previous school year ends- but not always.
Club Rush¹/ Club Booths is a time-honored tradition at many schools and is held at the beginning of each school year. Its purpose is to publicize and attract students into joining your club. This is how most clubs get the majority of their membership. Since all clubs are competing for membership at the start of school, (usually at lunch), prepare a table/ booth with your club’s information, sign-up sheet, giveaways, (lollipops, wrist bands etc.), and enlist some enthusiastic students. Attractive signs, with pictures of students doing peace work can be very helpful.
Getting Inside- Try to get a parking pass and school ID in advance. This will save you time.
Controlling the Message
Be aware that having a peace club on campus may invite controversy. Anticipate and head off any problems of this kind by framing your message with terms that are positive and inclusive. Explain that you can be against the war and but still support the troops. You may have students with parents or other loved ones that are active-duty or veterans. For this reason, choose phrases such as “Love the Soldier Not the War” and “Truth in Recruiting” instead of “Counter Recruitment”, pro-peace over anti-war. ( see sample tenets below).This practice will help you get the essential support you, your teacher sponsor and your club will need in the long run. Also, activities such as packages for the troops or letter writing, or memorial displays on Memorial or Veterans Day will carry a message that you can support the troops but not the war. If you are tackling other hot-button topics like Palestine, Black Lives Matter, ICE etc., take time to think about how there will always be some people quick to identify you as Un-American, anti- Semitic, racist or a terrorist supporter. Don’t let that stop you, just get ahead of them by making sure you are using the friendliest and most inclusive messages and non-partisan messages as possible.
Day One-Curriculum and Activities
The first activity should be electing your officers and helping them to lead the meetings. This means you will need to be there to help them prepare. Your biggest job may be to make sure the room is quiet so students can lead with support. Make sure early on your agenda you have some agreed upon rules for talking especially no side conversations, interruptions or put downs.
There are many resources that have been created that are useful for peace clubs to use. The main difficulty in providing lessons that teach peace building is that most clubs meet at lunch and that means you have only about 20 minutes of actual meeting time. If you meet after school, you won’t have that problem. If you have a peace club that meets for only a few minutes a week, make plans to hold larger workshop sessions after school or as part of an outside activity. Icebreakers are very popular for building friendships and strengthening your club. Planning activities and discussing the issues of the day and will take up most lunch time meeting time. Additional curriculum you may find useful include the following: “Teaching Tolerance”, trainings by Teachers for Social Justice, “Peacebuilders” manuals, and a number of good resources from The American Friend Services such as the “Before you Enlist and After You Say No” Training Manual.
Do's and Don’ts
- Every school and every school district have their own protocol and culture. Once you get a teacher sponsor, learn everything you can about your school first. Read the school handbook and not miss the opportunity to talk to others that have worked successfully as outsiders in the schools. ((Boys and Girls Clubs, Optimist and Soroptimist Clubs etc.) Talk to students and parents off campus and search online. Join the PTA if at all possible.
- Always be aware that your teacher sponsor is very conscious about job security, their reputation as a professional and being able to do their jobs without negative pressure from administrators and parents is very important to them. They only know what their students tell them. Do what you can to be low-key, as transparent and supportive as possible and follow your teacher sponsor’s guidance. Show that you understand that running interference for the club has its risks. You can do this by making sure your teacher knows and approves of everything you are presenting. (See below)
- “Transparency is my watchword”, says Chris Venn, who has been sponsoring a high school peace club in Southern CA since 2003 and has organized successful peace camps for 11 years. “I make sure that the teacher sponsor of the peace club and the school principal knows what material the club is distributing on campus or tabling with. I seek a cooperative relationship with the principal so that the club can reach as many students and teachers as possible. There are many military families at our high school and I don’t want the principal to be surprised by any of our activities. This approach has been so successful, that this year the principal turned over an entire week of campus activity for our peace club to coordinate, and as a result, the peace club president was able to speak to over 1,500 students over a 4 day period!”
- Let the students take the lead! Students listen to teachers all day long so don’t really enjoy listening to another adult at their free lunch time. Clubs are usually led by the club president and vice president. Start elections early so that students see that you are a student driven club and see what student leadership looks like. In ABC Unified, our peace club has a president, vice president, media, membership representative and scribe. (notes and attendance taker). The president chairs the meetings, not the teacher sponsor or you. You will need to find a regular time to plan agendas and debrief outside of the club meeting time, so consider coming at lunch on another day, getting permission for your club officers to meet that same day during an elective class, (teacher’s aide, homeroom etc.), or plan by group phone calls.
- Allow club officers and leaders to conduct the meetings with as little interruptions as possible. It is tremendously difficult for a student to lead a meeting in front of their peers. Frequent interruptions destroy confidence.
- Set your club guidelines early. Address the need for listening and no side conversations. Discuss the need for better listening strategies such as non-verbal clues and time keepers. Post a points of unity agreements sign that include respect at each meeting. Review if needed.
- Invite a veteran with you to club meetings whenever possible. Make them a visible part of your team even if they can only join you once or twice a year. They dispel most opposition to the anti- military stereotype you most likely will have to address. Search veteransforpeace.org/ speaker’s bureau, aboutfaceveterans.org/ and mfso.org for referrals nationwide.
- Never allow yourself to be alone in a classroom with a student- you put your club, and teacher sponsor in jeopardy, and also leave yourself open for serious problems or accusations. Make sure your partner knows this as well. For this reason, never collect student phone numbers or contacts or give out another person’s contact, including that of your teacher sponsor. All student information should be confidential and collected by teachers or students only. Do not communicate or accept any students as a friend on social media or take pictures without permission. (See permission to photograph in your school student handbook).
- To communicate and get information and activity notifications, ask your teacher if they can use Reminder 101 or What’s App. These cell phone applications do not give phone numbers to others on the list and is used to make group text announcements. Many teachers are already familiar with these apps and use them to remind students of homework or projects deadlines.
- Too often, I meet idealistic, good-hearted people anxious to work with youth but wind up using club time as platforms for expressing their opinions or trying to teach! Do not allow yourself or others to sabotage your agenda and lose valuable student time. Invite them to address your club as a guest speaker, but not promote their political agenda.. A sign that this is happening is a noticeable drop in attendance. This tells you that students are not invested in this discussion. This can also happen when a student is allowed to dominate the agenda or discussion. Set limits on talking time. (See above and refer to curriculum suggestions for more information).
- Successful peace clubs are run by students and their voices need to be heard. Good rule of thumb: no adult should talk more than 3-4 minutes unless they are a guest speaker. Clubs that meet at lunch only usually get 30 minutes to meet and this doesn’t account for passing time and the time they need to get their lunches first, so actual lunch meetings are usually only 20 minutes.
- Do not bring too many outsiders to your meetings. It can make your teacher sponsor very uncomfortable and can give the impression that students are being used for show and tell. It also can reduce the opportunity to strengthen student solidarity for the club. Students will trust you if you protect their privacy and the integrity of the club.
- This may seem frivolous, but bringing cookies or treats such as easy to peel tangerines or string cheese to every meeting goes a long way in making friends, increasing attendance and in some cases, you will find this is the only food some students will have during the school day. It is also an icebreaker activity in itself.
- If you are doing fundraising never allow students to keep the money after an activity or take money home yourself. In ABC School District all funds are given to a campus administrator’s designee in order to avoid theft issues. If there is no rule for where funds are kept, have your teacher sponsor hold it. Ensure receipts and records are kept.
Making An Impact
Sometimes it’s just too difficult to get a peace club started. Consider trying another school. If you can’t make that happen, consider these activities which are also good club activities.
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Peace themed Assemblies-Screen films such as The Ground Truth or invite veterans to speak
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Career Fairs-Encourage positive and peaceful career choices. NNOM
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PTA- Get and give input on firm policies that military recruiters should follow while on campus, such as visiting areas and times. PTA members are also interested in protecting student privacy (see Opt-Out)
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Classroom Speakers- See assemblies for topics and consider bringing in Veterans for Peace or hold debates on topics such as drone warfare in civics and history classes when they are reviewing modern problems. Also, after exams, teachers often have some leeway to include extra lessons
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Leafleting at Schools- Outside by non-students; inside and outside by students (see nnomy.org/ Back to School Kit for up-to- date brochures you can download for free). Use NNOMY’s palm cards to distribute at school. They can be found at the War Resisters League in New York City and ordered in quantities at https://www.warresisters.org/store/questions-consider-palmcard.
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Opt Out- Work to protect student privacy by educating parents and students that their private information is given to military recruiters without parental consent. Promote the use of opt out forms so that this doesn’t happen. Find out more at https://nnomy.org/en/resources/counter-recruitment/opt-out-student-lists.html.
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ASVAB testing- Many students take these “career” tests but don’t realize the military provides the test and receives test results. For more information check out the page at https://nnomy.org/en/government-documents/asvab-testing.html.
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Teen Memorial Displays- Over 300 teenagers were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There also a traveling Eyes Wide Open Exhibit to show the cost of the war on Iran. Erect a teen memorial near your school before and after school. To borrow the kit call Pat at 562-833-8035
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Awards ceremonies/scholarships- Recognize students who enter peace essay contests, speeches, art or other peace projects
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Summer Peace Camp- A good example of a well organized peace camp can be found by contacting Chris Venn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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If you or your organization are planning to start a peace club or participate in any of the activities mentioned in this brochure, we invite you to add your name to our national directory at: https://nnomy.org/organizations.
Each of the activities above is unique and is an important way to make a difference in our schools. There are many people who have had valuable experiences they would be happy to share with you and support you along your journey in starting a peace club. They are ready to support you so that you won’t have to start from scratch and can help you troubleshoot any barriers you might face. You can also find more information on most of these topics by searching by category under nnomy.org If you would like detailed information on getting into schools- Project YANO has extensive experience and success in gaining access to schools they offer expert advice on alternative approaches to gaining access to schools This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone- 760-634-3604
Acknowledgements
This information was written with the support from members of NNOMY, (National Network Opposed to the Militarization of Youth). Up-to-date Truth in Recruiting Literature can be downloaded free at nnomy.org. NNOMY also provides a wealth of information and support about stopping militarism in the schools. Editing and invaluable contributions were made by NNOMY members Rick Jahnkow of Project YANO in San Diego, CA, Chris Venn, of San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice in CA and Libby Frank of the Northwest Suburban Peace and Education Project in Chicago. If you have any questions or need guidance or support to start a peace club, or demilitarize our schools you can contact any one of us at:
- Rick Jahnkow | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | San Diego, CA
- Chris Venn | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | San Pedro, CA
- Libby Frank This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Chicago, Ill
- Pat Alviso | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Long Beach, CA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
562-833-8035
If you would like detailed information on getting into schools- Project YANO has extensive experience and success in gaining access to schools. They offer expert advice on alternative approaches to gaining access to schools
(http://projectyano.org/pdf/Equalaccess2006.pdf)*
*Using Equal Access to Counter Militarism in High School, Revised 2006, by Rick Jahnkow.
1. At the beginning of each semester there is a club rush in which each club in the school has a table and encourages other students to become involved in the community and the school by joining the club. Club rush has a variety of clubs for students to join based on their interests.
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Revised 06/10/2026 MFSO
