Head: Yuka

I was shocked when I initially saw the news that Russia began to attack Ukraine. I had thought that I would never hear about war in my lifetime. This event got me thinking that war and nuclear weapons are a significant risk to my life.

I have a goal to live till 120 years old so I can complete everything I want to accomplish such as traveling the world and living a peaceful life. I’ve searched to remove all possibilities that disturb my goal. For example: exercise regularly, sleep appropriately, and eat healthy food. However, news about the war made me realize that even if I make an effort for myself, once a war occurs and nuclear weapons are exploited, the environment around me including people and nature will be destroyed completely. In such circumstances, I cannot live or pursue my interests any longer. 

After I developed a strong passion for studying the issues of nuclear weapons, I joined the GLP (global leaders program) that my school organized as an extracurricular. In this group, I studied nuclear weapons from various aspects: education, religion, and history. Through these activities, the club members and I came up with the idea of making a program to educate the younger generation since all members of GLP concluded that without incorporating the next generation, it is impossible to achieve nuclear disarmament. I joined Teens4Disarmament with the hope of educating my community and the world around me about nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. I worked with my peers to create two activities for education: a card game and posters. Incorporating card games can help people understand the situation of nations that possess nuclear weapons. Moreover, the game helps to gain basic knowledge about the bomb like the name of treaties and important declarations. The posters were created as a supplement to the card game. Though activities such as card games can teach you about nuclear disarmament, they cannot convey the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, only the theoretical information. The posters show the relationships between nuclear weapons and SDGs. Next year, I would like to make an app for the game and spread awareness for nuclear disarmament in youth. I want to work towards creating a nuclear-weapon-free world by spreading education to the younger generation.