A peace petition signed by more than 4,000 children has been handed over to 10 Downing Street to let the government know the views of the thousands of children prior to the United Nations (UN) Summit on Small Arms, which will take place in New York from 26 June to 7 July.
The petition was organised by Christian Aid’s children’s website ‘Global Gang’, which asked 8-12 year-olds to send their messages of peace to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and US President George Bush.One child, Rebecca Rothwell, 10, said, “The point of the petition is to tell the prime minister that fighting isn’t the way to solve problems.”
Margaret, Rebecca’s mum, said: “I hope Rebecca will never come across guns in her life, but I know that at some point she will. Since the project started Rebecca’s learned that in some countries kids are forced to use guns in wars, but she’s lucky, because she has a choice.”
Esther Shobande, 10, was one of the children who personally delivered the petition to 10 Downing Street. She said, “It was really exciting to take the petition up to the door. I think Tony Blair should listen to me because I’m a kid. He should change the law so that you have to be 25 to buy a gun, not 18, because sometimes teenagers buy guns for bad reasons.”
Raymond Gborie, 10, another of the children said, “I think Tony Blair should close all the gun shops and then people wouldn’t be able to buy guns anymore.'
Raymond’s friend, Joe McDonagh, 11, agrees: “They shouldn’t make guns in the first place because people just use them to show off to their friends and to kill people. People who carry guns should get 20 years in prison.”The editor of Global Gang, Sophie Shirt, expressed that she believed the petition had been a great success. Shirt said, “We often receive emails from kids saying they are concerned about fighting in the world. Many of them feel like there’s nothing they can do, so the petition was a chance for them to get their voices heard.”
She added, “Lots of kids are worried about being mugged for their mobiles and carry knives as a deterrent, but hopefully this petition has made them think differently.”
To support the petition, many of the children created a dove sculpture, made out of all their own toy guns, as a sign of peace.
Comedian Mark Thomas, from the Channel 4 show ‘The Mark Thomas Comedy Product’, thought the sculpture was “amazing” and joined the school children as they handed the petition over.
“The fact is, if you are a kid growing up in London you might come into contact with gun crime or gun violence at some point,” Thomas said, according to Christian Aid. “It’s incredible what they have done. It’s important that kids understand we can make a difference if we all work together.”
