Shadows and marks: the potential narrative of children about war

The war in Ukraine is in the order of the day. Every day we are exposed to information and images that tell of war scenarios and we all, without exception, absorb different war situations. In the educational landscape the question arises whether or not we should talk to children about this issue, namely about what they see or hear on television and other media. The document "Talking about War", organized by the Portuguese Psychologists' Association, starts by making it clear that the best thing to do is to be available to listen to the children's concerns, talk to them and answer their doubts, trying to clarify them, keep them informed and correct misconceptions. The depth of this approach obviously depends on the age of the child, their maturity and degree of development, as well as the likelihood of hearing from other sources or in the family relationship with the conflict (Unicef, 2022). We understand that it is a subject that should also be approached in the classroom, with some care and reflection, allowing children to understand inherent concepts and associated practices. We also understand that, in parallel, there should be the concern to provide new learning opportunities, leading children to want to participate in building a better world, thus being true peace builders. This can be done by trying to answer questions such as What is war? Why is there a war? Will this war come to Portugal? What and who are the refugees? How can war end? among others. This article seeks to discuss the results of a research developed with young children, about their perceptions regarding the war in Ukraine and war scenarios. The study is qualitative in nature and made use of audio-recorded reflective dialogues. The participants were 24 children aged 7 and 8 years old, from the 2nd grade of a public school in the north of Portugal. In a perspective of peace building and education for non-violence, the results show that these children have a broad notion of what war is, and the scenarios associated to it, revealing that they are aware of the violation of human rights. They also show an attempt to find different possible solutions, such as dialogue and empathy, thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of each one.FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Project Scope: UIDB/05777/2020