Parents, Teachers and
Students for Social Responsibility (PTSSR) was founded in the early 1980's
as a citizen initiative in response to the ongoing threat of the nuclear
arms race in the context of the
Cold War.
The major goal of the organization at that time was to empower parents and teachers with the knowledge and strategies to become active in working for peace on behalf of all the worlds' children. In support of this work, the organization created and distributed over one half million copies of the booklet "What About the Children?" which was translated into six languages and distributed worldwide.
Over the past fifteen years, PTSSR has increasingly engaged in educational programs and projects designed to empower young people with the knowledge and attitudes needed to become proactive citizens for social justice. For the past five years, the organization's resources and initiatives have centered on Youth Empowerment Projects -- programs designed to combat racism and other forms of prejudice and discrimination. In 1996 The International Summer Institute for Youth in Holocaust Studies was established, serving young people ages 12 through 18. In 1998 a teacher training component was developed and integrated with this program.
Another curriculum
initiative, being designed in collaboration with the John Dewey Project
at the University of Vermont and with Montpelier High School in Montpelier,
Vermont. This initiative entails the development of a curriculum
in which youth examine issues and questions about what it means for human
beings to grow up, both as individuals and also as a species, with the
goal to empower citizens with the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed
for ethical decision making and non-violent democratic action. Youth
and teachers who engage in this curriculum would develop projects in the
service of their vision for a more just and peaceful world.
For more information contact:
Parents, Teachers &
Students for Social Responsibility, Inc. (PTSSR)
P.O. Box 1173
Montpelier, VT 05601-1173
Ph. (802) 223-3409
fax (802) 229-1166 email: ptssr@together.net.