War leaves us speechless. Stunned and incredulous, we have all reacted to the recent news intensely: a feeling of threat pervades us, a disorientation with respect to the idea of the world we had built for ourselves, and our vision of the future (already severely tested by the long period of the pandemic) is steeped in a feeling of insecurity and distrust. Our children and the students of our schools experience these same feelings. How can we talk about war to our children? How can we educate them for peace?

The book

Practical and essential, the volume War: the words to talk about it, written by some of the most illustrious names in Italian psychology, pedagogy and neuropsychiatry, provides essential information and advice to parents and teachers on how to talk about war to children and young people, clarifying the mechanisms with which they receive information and suggesting the most suitable strategies to contain their fears and educate for peace. 

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Structure of the book

Including an interview with Liliana Segre and through the voice of Stefano Vicari, Alberto Pellai, Daniela Lucangeli and Dario Ianes, some of the most illustrious names in Italian psychology, pedagogy and neuropsychiatry, the volume provides parents and teachers with theoretical and practical indications on how to talk about war to young people. 

Stefano Vicari reflects on the relationship between information and the younger generations: in the face of an unprecedented amount of contradictory and sometimes untrue information, children show that they have surprising capacities for reflection and action through healthy and thoughtful activism, which is right to acknowledge and support. 

Alberto Pellai explains how minors, especially in early childhood, struggle to place the inputs that terrify them in space and time: for them the "world" is not the one drawn on the maps, but one that coincides with their own microcosm made up of home, school, and friend . 

Daniela Lucangeli focuses on understanding and correctly managing the psychic mechanisms of fear, prejudice and aggression which oppose empathy. She encourages parents and teachers to disregard polarization ("good" versus "bad") when presenting facts and working on emotions. 

Dario Ianes observes the problem from the concrete point of view of class work, underlining how the choice to bring the controversial issues that our time raises to school is an excellent tool to help pupils develop their thinking, relationship and discussion skills. 

The volume is completed by a selection of indications, suggestions, and practical advice disseminated by the American Psychological Association and UNICEF on how to talk about the war to children and young people, according to their age and the needs they manifest.

Leaf through some selected pages from the book that have been translated into English to facilitate your evaluation:

THE AUTHORS

Stefano Vicari Professor of Child Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. He directs the Complex Operational Unit of Child Neuropsychiatry of the IRCCS Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome. He is a founding member of the Institute of ReTe Neuropsychiatry, Research and Therapy in Developmental Age, Rome, and founder and member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Association for Autism Research (AIRA). 

Daniela Lucangeli Professor of Developmental Psychology, president of the National Coordination for Specialized Teachers (CNIS), President of Mind4Children - Spin-Off of the University of Padua, member of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities (IARLD), author of numerous scientific contributions national and international, scientific director of an important network of clinical and educational centers. In her career as a scholar she has dealt with areas of knowledge ranging from logic to neuroscience, while in clinical practice she works in the field of learning support strategies and neurodevelopmental disorders. 

Alberto Pellai Doctor, developmental psychotherapist and researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Milan, he deals with prevention in the developmental age. He conducts training courses for parents and teachers, and in 2004 he received the silver medal of merit for public health. He is the author of many volumes, including some children's fairy tales. 

Dario Ianes Professor of Pedagogy and Special Didactics at the University of Bolzano, Degree Course in Primary Education Sciences. He is co-founder of the Erickson Study Center in Trento, for which he curates some series, including the Guides and Materials. He is the author of various articles and books and editor of the magazine "DIDA".