FEATURE An interview with a peace activist More than just fashion & music By PAUL OGRESKO At an age when young people‘are sup- - posedly interested only in fashion and the latest music, 18-year-old Karen Goodfellow is worried about the future of the world. And while most high school students fill their time with partying or even studies, Goodfellow’s itinerary is more likely to include speaking to peace activists at a vigil or staying up to two in the morning, not to party, but to speak in defence of a peace committee at the To- ronto Board of Education. While her commitment to peace may make her an exception among her peers Goodfellow is doing her utmost to bring that message to her classmates. It is a heavy load for a high school student to carry. It was a visit from survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Hibakusha as they are known in Japan, when Goodfellow was in Grade six that left an indelible impression on the young school girl. “The Hibakusha spoke of the horrors they experienced.’’ Goodfellow told the, Tribune, ‘““They showed us the scars on their arms. What nuclear war really means. Speaking to them really inspired me.” At the time Goodfellow had no idea that the visit would set in motion a chain of events that would, in a few years, take her to Hiroshima. In 1985 the Toronto Japan. She attended the International Youth Peace seminar sponsored by the YMCA. There, young people from around the world discussed topics rang- ing from apartheid to world hunger to the question of nuclear disarmament. During these talks Goodfellow realized that al- though there were great differences in language and customs among the young people, when it came to the bottom line they shared the same hopes, fears and dreams. Goodfellow visited with the Hibakusha and participated in memorial meetings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For the high school student it was an eye-opening experience giving her a sense, not only of the horror of nuclear war, but also of the world-wide move- ment for peace. She found that young people, despite outward appearances, lived with the apprehension of growing up in the nuclear age. Many felt a hope- lessness, a sense of impotence in a world where their future lay in the hands of adults who held the power to destroy the world many times over. If Goodfellow left Canada as a concerned and thoughtful youth she came back as a committed activist. ‘After hearing what the Hibakusha had gone through, the pain the bomb had caused, there was no way I could just sit still and not say anything,’’ Goodfellow explained, ‘‘I decided I had to reach as “You can’t take politics away from us because if you do you're not really giving us an - education.” Board of Education, through the now de- funct Critical Issues Committee, and Hiroshima-Nagasaki Relived sponsored a project called Project Peace. The goal of the project was to get young people thinking about their future and the impor- tance of peace. Karen Goodfellow took part in the pro- ject, submitting an essay on what Hiroshima meant to her as part of a city-wide essay contest with a trip to Hiroshimaas first prize. As well Goodfel- low organized other peace events at her high school, Humberside Collegiate. Canadian author Margaret Lawrence and Douglas Roche, Canada’s ambas- sador for disarmament, judges for the essay contest, selected Goodfellow’s submission as the best. ‘*Before I wrote the essay I found, like a lot of kids, that I got depressed very easily thinking about the future.’’ Good- fellow said, ‘Writing the essay was my way of letting everything out and reach- ing a wider audience. It made me feel a lot more optimistic about my future.”’ Along with Setsuko Thurlow, a sur- vivor of the Hiroshima blast and a member of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Re- lived Committee, and fellow student David Lin, Karen Goodfellow spent three weeks during the summer of 86 in 10 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 9, 1987 many people as possible — kids espe- cially because it’s most important for them to understand what nuclear war means. ‘‘T knew [had to do my best to capture the spirit of the Hibakusha,’’ Goodfellow said, ‘‘To try to convey what war at its most deadly really means — not some- thing in the movies but in real life and to real people. This is especially hard to explain to kids in Canada who have never experienced the pain or under- stand the consequences of nuclear war.”’ Goodfellow’s life became a whirlwind of activities when she came back. Be- sides organizing peace events at her high school, Humberside Collegiate, she found herself embroiled in a much larger issue — the whole question of peace and education. In a way it was very appro- priate that Goodfellow became one of the principal defenders of the Critical Issues Committee, the committee that had been responsible for her trip to Hiroshima. The Critical Issues Committee, set up by the previous progressive majority of school trustees on the Toronto Board of Education, was under attack from the right-wing. The recently elected right- wing majority was determined to disband the committee and permanently shelve the Critical Issues curriculum. The \ TRIBUNE PHOTO — PAUL OGRESKO Karen Goodfellow: ‘They try to make you feel you can’t make a difference but you can be inspired by and in turn inspire other people.” committee had helped to bring courses on the arms race, the environment, world economic issues and the question of racism into the classroom. The right- wing argued these issues had no place in the classroom, that the curriculum was biased towards the left and that the bulk of the programs were non-issues. Good- fellow found herself in the heart of the debate. “Tt was such a frustrating experience because the right-wing trustees were say- ing ‘We shouldn’t have peace education. We shouldn’t learn about human rights. We shouldn’t have any political stuff in our education.’ ’’ Goodfellow said, *“‘We were trying to convince them that ‘No, we need it! You can’t take politics away from us because if you do you’re not really giving us an education. It’s as im- portant for us to learn about those things as it is to learn math or memorize dates.”’ Despite the outcry from concerned pa- rents, trade unionists, peace activists and students such as Goodfellow, the right-wing succeeded in voting the com- mittee out of existence. Tempered by the setbacks Goodfellow is optimistic that the committee will, one way or the other, be resurrected. Her attention is currently focused on raising awareness among her school mates of the importance of peace and other social issues. It is an uphill struggle. ‘We had a group called Youth Against Racism at Humberside last year. It didn’t go over that well because our school is very conservative so we decided to change the name to SAM (Students’ Awareness Movement) to deal with 4 range of broader issues.’ ’ The area around Humberside Colle giate has a large East European commu” ity which has helped to shape many of the values and prejudices held by a good percentage of the student population. Goodfellow is well aware of this — hav ing encountered skepticism and hostility from some students because of her ac- tivities. She explained how some parents have drilled paranoia and anti-commu- nism into their children. While she feels such conditioning is not irreversible i does, at’times, get her down. “I’ve been walking down the hallway of my school,’ Goodfellow explained, ‘and a couple of the more extreme peace-through-strength kids have shouted things out at me — called me 4 communist. Just because I care enough to get involved.” : But the main problem, as far as Good- fellow is concerned, is dealing with 4 largely apathetic and detached student population. There is a sense of frustra- tion among young people — a cynicis™ bred from disinvolvement. Moves such as the disbanding of the Critical Issues Committee will do little to alleviate the problem. Yet there is a ray of hope. “‘T don’t feel as despondent as before. J feel more up about life. I realize that individuals can make a difference. Goodfellow said, ‘‘They try to make you think that you can’t make a difference but you can be inspired by and in turd inspire other people. Even if I have just reached one other person then at leas! I’ve made a difference.” Fe ee Ee OE tha Maisie Ps St aia Go ~~ |