Maybe you have seen something on the news or on the internet about the G7. Do you know what the G7 is? Have you seen something about it recently?

The G7 is a special group of countries. G7 means “Group of Seven”. The member countries are Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., Canada and America. Before the G7, we had the G8. The G8 had Russia as a member, but because Russia took the country of Crimea, it was kicked out. Russia can never join the group in the future. The government in Russia today is very violent and the other countries said, “No” to them.

The power of the G7 is very large, and there is a lot of important things that they talk about. These seven countries can lead much of the economy of the world and can make changes. There is another very important element about all these countries and it is that they are all countries that believe in freedom. These countries all believe in democracy.

There are chances that other countries that have democracy may join the G7 in the future. Possible new members in the future are Australia, India, Indonesia, Poland, Spain, and South Korea. In many G7 meetings, other leaders are invited to attend the meetings and to discuss important international problems.

This year was very special for the G7. It was special for two reasons. The first reason is that the G7 meeting was in Hiroshima in Japan. The second reason is that the leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, joined.

When the G7 meets in Japan, and especially in the city of Hiroshima, the whole world is watching. The city of Hiroshima was where the Americans dropped a nuclear bomb, and so many people were murdered. This action of the Americans is impossible to forget. The city of Hiroshima is a symbol of peace for the world, and it is a place where we must never forget that nuclear weapons are so very dangerous and that war is something we must stop.

When the G7 invites President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to meet in Japan to talk about the war of Russia on Ukraine this is very important news. This is a time when free countries of the world can tell everyone that we will continue to support Ukraine as they fight Russia. Democratic countries have great freedom, but we also have responsibility to help other countries that want to be free too.

Our world can be dangerous and there are dangerous countries that we must be careful of. Russia, China, and North Korea are non-democratic countries near Japan. If a country, like China or North Korea, does not have freedom for people, it can be very dangerous. If a country does not have democracy for people, it is not safe to speak your ideas openly, or to say that you do not agree with your government. In Japan and in Canada, we believe that all people should be free to speak their feelings and to express ideas. Russia, China, and North Korea do not let people speak freely, and easily attack and try to control other countries.

It can be very difficult for the G7 or the United Nations to make everyone in the world free. There are a lot of problems, and there are many different cultures and ways of living too. But the idea to be free is not only something important for countries like Japan and Canada and other G7 countries. To be free, and to be safe, and to not worry to say what you think is something that we need for all people in the world.

The G7 had its big meeting in Japan, and it was very interesting and important. But it is not the end of the troubles we have. We need to always meet, and talk, and make plans, and to slow down dangerous countries together. We need to work together, study and learn together, and sometimes stand and fight together. If we do not work together to keep our countries safe, and to keep democracy safe from dangerous leaders, we will lose our future and we will lose our freedom.

I hope you will take some time in your Social Studies classes to learn more about the G7 and the United Nations. When we learn about our world and about history, we also learn about how to keep our world safe for today too.