DISARMAMENT _ “Once I found out what was goingon . . . it seemed to me that everything was useless. There was nothing worth doing except living for the exact moment.” — Amy, 14 From Facing the Nuclear Age; Parents and Chil- dren Together. Compiled by Susan Goldberg. An- nick Press Ltd. $3.95. Psychologists pinpoint four stages people must pass through when confronted with situations be- yond their immediate control: disbelief, despair, anger and constructive action. There is no escaping any of the first three stages on our way to the fourth. If we get stuck in any one of them it shows up in psychological or physical disorders. Those of us who are “handling’’ the threat of nuclear war can be found on a demonstration, in a peace group or firing off a letter to external affairs. But we’ve had 20 to 30 years of dealing with the bomb. Fora child, the sudden impact of the nuclear age can be highly unsettling. The American Psychiatric Association in a re- cent study found that young people are becoming increasingly preoccupied with the possibilities of nuclear war. Common responses are feelings of helplessness, alienation, distrust of adults and the political process, behavioral problems, insomnia, even ulcers. Such symptoms aren’t confined to your nervous, introspective, ‘‘weird’’ kid. They are showing up in youngsters of three and four years old and are in fact an understandable, even intelligent response to an unseen, yet ominous force which can rip through the protection of home and family, which can wipe out futures. We can’t pick up and move away from the bomb, nor can we shield our children from the messages of the nuclear age. But there are ways parents (and pseudo parents) can help themselves and their children to get from stage one to stage four as quickly and painlessly as possible. Facing the Nuclear Age can help. Developed by the Toronto-based group, Parents for Peace, it’s a self-help manual in confronting all those ticklish, uncomfortable situations from how to talk with children about nuclear war, to what can be done about it. Rule number one is don’t shut down when kids want to talk. Listen, share your fears and con- cerns, and get informed yourself. That way you're a better listener. Next comes pages of activities for the home, at school or in the streets. They can involve singing songs, reading stories, painting a picture, or wear- ing a button for preschoolers. For those of us who have been trying to figure out how to fold a paper crane, there are instructions. Older children can be encouraged to write letters to politicians and newspapers; form their own peace groups; start a scrap book of peace leafiets, photos, newsclippings; publish a school news- letter; put ona play; contact the Soviet embassy for a pen pal in the Soviet Union; have their school or recreational centre declared a nuclear-weapons free zone. The book includes listings of books, videos, and articles for children of all ages, and two pages of peace organizations with a special appeal to pa- rents, educators and children. But all the action isn’t for the kids. The most important function adults can play, we’re told, is by being a good role model. A second grade teacher asked 18 children in her class how many thought there would be a nuclear war. All but one raised their hands. When the remaining child was asked why he felt differently, he said, ‘‘I know there won't be a nuclear. war because my daddy is going to meetings all the time to stop it.” — Kerry McCuaig Our Protest We, the last of humanity huddled in the rain holding signs of peace in the air holding a final hope in our hearts Far away, a missile soared speeding down its pathway in the sky a flash of silver, a whistle of steel the child of ignorance and greed Then suddenly it was over small men stood tall smiling in the face of destruction the world was dismissed with a TV switch Finally it reached us standing in the rain trying to ignore the insane reality the stench of wet cardboard signs We were silent with midnight one step closer wanting to ask why the rain tasted strangely like tears. — Evelyn Lau, age 13 14 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 24, 1985 75,000 in U.S. rally for peace Thousands of people in cit- ies all across the U.S. took to the streets Apr. 20 demanding peace, jobs and justice and demonstrating that the poli- cies of the Reagan administra- tion are meeting with increasing opposition from the people of that country. Bus loads of trade unionists, students, peace and civil rights activists from the eastern part of the U.S. flooded into Washington, D.C. to partici- pate in a march past the White House and an afternoon “Fes- tival of Resistance.” An estimated 75,000 people attended the festival which called for action on four related demands: reverse the arms race; no internation in Central America; redirect mil- itary spending to jobs and social programs; oppose apar- theid and end racism in the US. Rev. Jesse Jackson, chair of the Rainbow Coalition, was one of the featured speakers at the festival. “We are awaken- ing from a long slumber” he said. Condemning the policies of the Reagan administration, he called for an end to U.S. support for the contras in Nicaragua and for an end to U.S. investments in South Africa. A number of labor speakers also addressed the rally. “We are here to fight against the forces of evil for how else can you describe a government that tries to overthrow the legal government of Nicara- gua, an administration which invaded Grenada,” said Kitty Krupat a representative of District 65, United Auto- mobile Workers. Anthony Luddy, interna-_ tional secretary-treasurer of the United Food and Com- mercial Workers Union said, “T represent 1.3 million mem- bers of the UFCW. All of our members want peace, jobs and justice but to achieve these goals we must have a plan, a program. And the centrepiece of that plan must be to organ- ize people. Peace will only be won by organizing, not just by speaking or passing resolu- tions.” Demonstrations were also held in Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Den- ver and Seattle, uniting a broad range of people in the first nation-wide protest since Reagan’s re-election last Nov- ember. Major peace organizations including the Nuclear Freeze Campaign, Women’s Interna- tional League for Peace and Freedom, Common Cause, SANE, the U.S. Peace Coun- cil, Witness for Peace and oth- ers, joined with the. trade union movement, the Rain- bow Coalition, civil rights and student groups to organize the Apr. 20 protests. The Saturday demonstra- tion in Washington, D.C. kicked off three days of action by protesters. Monday, Apr. 22 was set as a day for lobbying and civil disobedience. Thousands of people again demonstrated outside the White House and 300 of those demonstrators were arrested for blocking the gates. ; One of those arrested was Rev. William Sloane: Coffin, al Pastor of the Riverside Church, New York. “I was arrested for aiding and abetting draft resis- ters in 1968 and we are back here again to protest some- thing illegal. We are commit- ting a misdemeanor to protest ‘major crimes, the crimes of U.S. intervention in Nicaragua and U.S. investments in South Africa,” he said. Senators and congressman - were also lobbied by protesters to take action on the four demands from the Saturday rally. Additionally, a powerful lobby around the demand for ~ a ‘negotiators’ pause” was organized. Hailing the initia- tive taken by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the lobb- _ iests called on the U.S. admin- | istration to match that initiative and place a moratorium on further deployment of missiles in Europe while the negotia- tions in Geneva continue. Citizens’ groups in the U.S. have formed coalitions to _ lobby U.S. politicians on var= ious issues, finding that a uni- ted approach is more effective. A coalition of more than 100 organizations including many trade unions was organ- ized to lobby against the request by the Reagan admin- istration for an additional $14 __ milion aid to the contras in Nicaragua. That issue will go. — to the vote on Apr. 23 and is now expected to be defeated. The peace movement in the U.S. continues to organize, involving an increasing num- ber of people in the struggle to | end the spiralling arms race and redirect military spending to social programs which have been drastically cut during the years of the Reagan adminis- tration. The campaign to declare U.S. communities as nuclear- weapons free zones campaign continues unabated. Over 65 communities are free zones — and organizations in 100 other centres are working to have their communities declared as nuclear weapons free There is also a developing fightback against the Reagan administration’s Star Wars program. A national confer- _ ence entitled “Stop the Arms Race in Space” sponsored by — the U.S. Peace Council will take place in Colorado Springs, May 3-5 to develop a national campaign against the pro- gram. And sister-city relationships between U.S. and Soviet cities are being reinforced all over | the U.S. In March, city coun- cillors from Detroit visited — their sister city, Minsk, in the ~ Soviet Union.