At SEA, our students and their families come in daily contact with mental, spiritual, and emotional unhealthiness such as violence, drugs, and gangs. We are dedicated to going even deeper than the academic needs of our students; we address the problems of the soul, spirit, and the imprint of violence on our psyche.
To deepen our work we began to ask ourselves, what if we worked FOR something instead of AGAINST something. If we are against violence, we are for peace. If we are against drug abuse, we are for service to others. If we are against gangs, we are for youth groups of peace.
YPM started in 2008 when students attended a Peacejam Conference with six Nobel Peace Laureates. For the first time, 120 SEA youth heard dedicated world leaders share their actions towards peace; thus, the Youth Peace Movement was born.
Today, there is a YPM program at each one of our campuses and students study the 10 global calls to action and put them into practice in their own communities.