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spring 2023

Violence and Healing

Volume XV, Number III

In this powerful issue of KidSpirit, young writers and artists probe the roots of violence and ask how we can move forward after loss and destruction. Are humans inherently violent? How can we resolve our trauma? Does healing mean to forgive or to forget?

Cover artwork by Dominik Miñano, age 15, Dominik Miñano, age 15. The artist writes: "For my perception of crisis andchange, I assumed the identity of money within the economy. The gold signified wealth,while the black signified how it is slowly being corrupted into a tar-like facade used tomanipulate the masses into submission." See more in the art gallery.

The Big Question

Can Traumatic Experiences Lead to Inner Development?

by Marium Ihsan

December 2020 was dark, gloomy, and especially cold — the fog settled in early in the evening and never disappeared, becoming a constant.

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More Stories

Features

Is the World Becoming More Violent?

by Tommy Zhou

To be frank, there is no conclusive evidence one way or another.

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Interfaith Connections

By the Glorious Morning Light

by Fatima Shafi

In a KidSpirit Interfaith Connections article, teen writer Fatima Shafi shares how her faith as a Muslim has helped her find healing.

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Awesome Moments

Violence and Healing: We Can Not Give Up

by Nikita Zinoviev

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Awesome Moments

Radical Change

by Elena Molero Castillo

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Features

The Dispute of the Century

by Álvaro Pérez de Aguado Durán

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Features

Why Do We Forgive?

by Mahrukh Khurshid

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Fiction

The Four Lovers of Gudrun

by Vincent Chang

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Fiction

The Quest for Peace

by Khaled Ghlilat

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Fiction

A Journey Through Paint

by Anya Sadozai

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Helping Hands

Death Row

by Ayza Afridi

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Helping Hands

Full Circle

by Sybille Nkunzimana

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Interfaith Connections

The Gradual Shift to Non-Violence

by Clio Leung

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Interfaith Connections

How a Prince, Snake Gods, and a Demon Changed My Life

by Kushan V. Mehta

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Media

A Traumatic Ember

by Konrad Tittel

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Media

The Firekeeper's Daughter: Battling the Ties Between Violence and Identity

by Adya Sarin

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Poetry

Death’s Plea
by Avishi Gurnani

Fluttering on the daisies,
A butterfly in the breeze,
Sunlight dancing off its wings
A merry existence
Life, oh, so short
For those discontent
Yet enough for those
Who choose to explore,
Give it a meaning
The rest, who knows?
People with their last breath

Click to read the whole poem...
Healingby Nubiana Smiley
In The Whirling Snow by Kaius Carson Powers
The Old Treeby Alonso Blánquez
You Bled as I Didby Lily Wang
Faded Scarsby Malaika Hassan
Outside My Windowby Dasol Kim
Echoes of Conflictby Siddhant Raj
Warby Tanvi Jeph
The Untouchable Violenceby Miseng Kim
The Storm that Sets Us Freeby Maximiliano Zapata
The Utteranceby Nurah Cheema
Motherby Jawad Maayah
Drunk on Moonlit Skiesby Aayreen Baagwala

PerSpectives

Building Our Capacity for Empathy

by Nicole Hockley and Pardeep Kaleka

For this PerSpectives article, KidSpirit editors from Haiti, New York, Paraguay, and Pakistan posed questions to Nicole Hockley and Pardeep Kaleka, two respected figures who, through their own tragic circumstances, have become spokespeople for anti-violence awareness.

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