Long after the fighting stops, mines planted in the ground during a war to destroy tanks and soldiers now pose a threat to the civilians and children living near them.

According to Landmine Survivors Network there are over 80 million landmines scattered thoroughout 80 different countries all over Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Every 22 minutes of every day, a person steps on a landmine, changing his or her life forever. Landmine victims in third world countries rarely receive medical aid from the already limited health care systems of poor countries.

Landmines are cheap to produce and plant but unfortunately are very expensive to remove. To produce a landmine costs three to 30 dollars. To remove it costs anywhere from 300 to 1000 dollars.

STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES recognized the horrors of the landmines and have set out to rectify them. Headed by Juniors Sam Kohrman and Adam Rosen, the IBIS academy has organized STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES, a student organization set on raising awareness and raising money to de-mine minefields all over the world.

The STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES project at Coral Reef Senior High has joined many IB schools all over the world in an effort to raise awareness about the destruction of landmines. STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES is part of a coalition with the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) and the Adopt-A-Minefield Foundation (AAM).

In the future, STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES will be doing many activites throughout the school. A Cookbook will be created compiling recipes from families of Coral Reef students and famous celebrities supporting the cause. People such as Heather Mills McCartney and Governor Jeb Bush have offered recipes for the cookbook.

Just recently, STUDENTS AGAINST LANDMINES presented an informative assembly for the 6th period history classes. The assembly consisted of poems, songs, dances, a video, and a speaker. The speaker was Jose Madera from the Miami Southern Command. The assembly is going to be performed not only in the future at Coral Reef, but it will also be done at other schools. “It’s important that we raise awareness not just in our school, but throughout our community,” program coordinator Adam Rosen said.

“Even though there are no landmines in Miami, landmines are an important issue particularly for IB students who are learning to think in a global way,” said Mrs. Michelle Patterson, Lead IB teacher and project advisor.

If everyone in the community helps, than we can truly do something great.

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