“Surge for peace” at Castro Valley High

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif.--The Peace in the Middle East Club sponsored a lunchtime "surge for peace" on January 14 by setting up a phone-banking table to let the White House and our senators know that Castro Valley High School students oppose the unending war in Afghanistan.

Eight club members handed out literature, provided sample phone scripts and engaged our classmates in discussion about the real cost of war. It was inspiring to find out that many students didn't need our talking points to phone the White House comment line and voice their passionate opposition to the war.

To encourage people to make calls, we entered people into a raffle if they called on the spot. About 30 students called during our short 30-minute lunch, while many more pledged to do so later. One Afghan student described her family's torment, knowing that escalating the conflict means real civilian lives will be lost, as she left her comments for President Barack Obama.

Many students who we talked to didn't know that it costs about $1 million for each of the 30,000 more troops scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan.

While many student clubs struggle to go beyond just talk, our club knows that education is only the first step. Now we hope to raise enough funds to read Howard Zinn's A People's History of American Empire as a club, create "Be a Beast for Peace" T-shirts and send a contribution to the Red Crescent.