So, what is a peace wheel and how do we use it? Ours is a piece of plywood about twenty-four inches in diameter attached to a tripod. The wheel is divided into 12 segments separated by wooden pegs on the outer edge of the wheel. There is a small piece of plastic at the top of the tripod that hits the pegs as the wheel spins. When the wheel stops spinning it leaves the piece of plastic pointing to one of the segments, each of which contains a question. The student who spins the wheel is asked to answer or discuss the question. The purpose at this point is to engage the student, who is rewarded with a prize even if he or she cannot answer the question correctly. These days the prize is an apple; previously, members of our group handed out candy. About 25 percent of the time the experience leads to a deeper and more informative conversation and follow-up questions from the students. The major problem these days is that we have four or five students waiting in line to spin the wheel.
The questions vary in difficulty and we keep developing new ones. We also distribute sheets to students that contain all the questions and answers.
Following are a few examples of the questions:
Q. In what year and under what president was the Peace Corp established?
A. In 1961 under President Kennedy.
Q. About how many volunteers have served in the Peace Corps since it was established in 1961?
A. About 215,000 volunteers.
Q. What is AmeriCorps NCCC?
A. AmeriCorps NCCC is a team-based civilian service program inside the United States. Teams travel to projects focusing on disaster relief, the environment, housing and youth. Each year about 1,100 young people, ages 18 to 24, serve for ten months. (www.Americorps.gov.)
Q. If a high school graduate joins AmeriCorps NCCC, what benefits are received?
A. Money to live on, $5,550 for future education, health care, three meals a day, housing and an opportunity to defer qualified student loans. Also valuable leadership skills and a sense of personal empowerment.
Q. Who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize?
A. Malala Yousafzai and Kallash Satyarthi. Malala (17 years old) won for her work promoting education for girls in Pakistan. Kallash (about 60 years old) won for his work against child slavery in India.
Q. What method of conflict resolution has resolved the greatest number of conflicts, violence or nonviolence?
A. Nonviolent actions (strikes, boycotts, petitions) have resolved twice as many conflicts both within and between nations as violent actions such as war and the threat of violence (Erica Chenwith and Maria J. Stephen, Why Civil Resistance Works). Gene Sharp in Waging Nonviolent Struggles identifies 198 methods of conflict resolution that have been used, past and present, including marches, occupations, strikes and refusal to pay taxes.
This is just a sample of the questions we ask students. It is in no way the purpose of the questions to stump the students, but rather to engage them, so it is good to include on the peace wheel some questions that they may be able to answer.
For more information on Winsted Area Peace Action, visit them on Facebook.
Editor’s note: A number of counter-recruitment groups around the country use tabletop prize wheels with different themes. For example, Project YANO (www.projectyano.org) uses a “leaders of social change” quiz theme. For information on ordering wheels, contact www.trainerswarehouse.com or Thomas Heikkala, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/).
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