A young Liberia author has launched his book called Brave New Child. The book was lunched recently in Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County, and the author, Mr. Marvin G. Davis, tries to answer several unanswered questions about the Liberian dilemma.

The war is over and peace has returned to Liberia but how do we maintain this peace? How can we prepare a new generation of Liberians that will learn to live together as human beings and not on the basis of tribe, cultural beliefs and religions? How can we teach our children to be tolerant, understand diversity and see their commonalities as the benchmark for coexistence?

What prevents peace? What eludes us from achieving peace even though this is what we really want? Why do we find it so difficult to live with each and why do we focus on our differences so much than our similarities? In what ways can peace education be used to develop the capacity for peace among young people and how can we build a new nation on the foundations of peace? What makes us treat each other in different ways? Why do we respect some people and disrespect others, love some people and hate others, embrace some and segregate against others? How can we build a culture of peace among young people from different backgrounds?

All these questions and many others including the critical problem of Psychological Conditioning are analyzed in this volume published by Trafford Publishing in Canada.

Brave New Child is a profile of Mr. Davis' experience with young people in the Peace School Program - an after school initiative geared towards making young people understand the root causes of violence and how to deal with violence in a non aggressive manner.

But most importantly the book is concerned with the fundamental issues that prevent understanding and cooperation in human affairs. Intently this book brings the issue of conditioning, and the tremendous conflict conditioning creates, to the forefront of awareness and consideration. Through his experiences Mr. Davis has shown that it is possible for our children to understand conflict - in their lives and in the world around them, and to create and to create humane, nonviolent ways to deal with it.

On Saturday September 12, 2009, the book entitled Brave New Child: Liberating the Children of Liberia and the World was launched at a ceremony held at the Auditorium of the St. Peter's Claver High School in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. The ceremony brought together officials of the county, parents, young people organizations and youths of the county.

The Assistant Superintendent of the County, Mr. Andrew Vah, who served as keynote speaker at the program, extolled the efforts of Mr. Davis and encouraged young people of the county to create a culture of reading, if they wanted to be productive citizens.

The launcher of the book, Mrs. Priscilla King, called on parents to help to educate their children through reading and help them in building a culture of peace.

Mr. Davis started Common Ground in 2005, and based the organization main office in Buchanan because he wanted to work with rural young people. With assistance from the Atrium Society, Mr. Davis was able to establish Common Ground in Buchanan, where he began teaching one of the Atrium's Curricula, "Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Us- Understanding the Roots of Prejudice. Brave New Child is a result of this work.

"Brave New Child" is a timely and deeply insightful and absorbing text. Through its analysis of the inherent causes of intercultural and inter-religious animosity and conflict, this text puts forward different practical and contemporary educational tools for ending the violence. The volume is an excellent guide for discerning different education strategies for increasing dialogue on inters group conflict and making young people aware of their root causes of violence.

The book offers numerous ideas and solutions for the effective undertaking and facilitation of nonviolent peace negotiations. It clearly addresses the critical need for tolerance, pluralism, and peace as prerequisites for peace education. "Brave New Child" identifies and explains why it is the responsibility of individuals and groups to understand and embrace these concepts for a long-term culture of peace to exist within.