High school students call for nuclear disarmament at international forum in Hiroshima
Apr. 10, 2015
by Yota Baba, Staff Writer
The Critical Issues Forum, a gathering held in Hiroshima on the theme of nuclear disarmament, ended with a public symposium on April 4 at the International Conference Center Hiroshima in Naka Ward. Before closing the three-day event, high school students from the United States, Russia, and Japan conveyed their views in English on the role of young people in helping to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
Five students from three countries took part in the panel discussion. Yuina Capa, 17, a third-year student at Hiroshima Jogakuin High School, proposed that young people should learn more and take stronger action, using Facebook and other tools, so that the past of previous generations will not be repeated.
A girl from the United States, a nuclear superpower, pointed out that the amount of money spent in 2011 on nuclear arms by the nuclear weapon states was equivalent to the annual budget, for 42 years, of the United Nations. She said, “It’s terrifying that so much money is spent on weapons which endanger human beings, and not on addressing poverty or providing assistance for development, things that would benefit humanity.” Students from the United States and Russia also said that “Little is taught at school about the atomic bombings or about nuclear disarmament,” and “We have to increase our opportunities to interact with people of other countries and respect one another’s cultures.”
In the keynote speech, which preceded the discussion, Yoshitoshi Nakamura, the Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Ministry’s Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department, spoke about the policies of local governments. He suggested that local governments could discuss nuclear disarmament with their sister cities in different countries via Skype, saying, “This would also offer students the chance to strengthen their English ability.”
The Critical Issues Forum has has been held every year since 1998 by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California with the aim of promoting education on disarmament and nonproliferation. The forum was held for the first time in Japan this year, which marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings, and was jointly hosted by Hiroshima Jogakuin Junior & Senior High Schools and other organizations. Seven schools from the United States, two schools from Russia, and five schools from Japan, including Yasuda Girls’ High School, took part.
(Originally published on April 5, 2015)
The Critical Issues Forum, a gathering held in Hiroshima on the theme of nuclear disarmament, ended with a public symposium on April 4 at the International Conference Center Hiroshima in Naka Ward. Before closing the three-day event, high school students from the United States, Russia, and Japan conveyed their views in English on the role of young people in helping to realize a world without nuclear weapons.
Five students from three countries took part in the panel discussion. Yuina Capa, 17, a third-year student at Hiroshima Jogakuin High School, proposed that young people should learn more and take stronger action, using Facebook and other tools, so that the past of previous generations will not be repeated.
A girl from the United States, a nuclear superpower, pointed out that the amount of money spent in 2011 on nuclear arms by the nuclear weapon states was equivalent to the annual budget, for 42 years, of the United Nations. She said, “It’s terrifying that so much money is spent on weapons which endanger human beings, and not on addressing poverty or providing assistance for development, things that would benefit humanity.” Students from the United States and Russia also said that “Little is taught at school about the atomic bombings or about nuclear disarmament,” and “We have to increase our opportunities to interact with people of other countries and respect one another’s cultures.”
In the keynote speech, which preceded the discussion, Yoshitoshi Nakamura, the Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Ministry’s Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department, spoke about the policies of local governments. He suggested that local governments could discuss nuclear disarmament with their sister cities in different countries via Skype, saying, “This would also offer students the chance to strengthen their English ability.”
The Critical Issues Forum has has been held every year since 1998 by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California with the aim of promoting education on disarmament and nonproliferation. The forum was held for the first time in Japan this year, which marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings, and was jointly hosted by Hiroshima Jogakuin Junior & Senior High Schools and other organizations. Seven schools from the United States, two schools from Russia, and five schools from Japan, including Yasuda Girls’ High School, took part.
(Originally published on April 5, 2015)
