In Israel, soccer helps unite Arab and Jewish parents. In Pakistan, street cricket is a way for children from different economic backgrounds to find commonalities. And in New Jersey, afternoon play in a school yard allows an autistic boy to feel included.

These were some of the examples a group of teachers from around the world discussed last week at the United Nations Teachers Conference on Human Rights, which focused on how sports and playtime can foster peace.

Seven Long Island educators were among a group of about 70 who met at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan to discuss ways to incorporate peace into lesson plans. The conference, organized by Adelphi University in Garden City, also allowed groups of teachers in Pakistan, Canada and New Jersey to participate through live video-conference.

"The real laboratory of life is a game situation," said Ronald Feingold, dean of Adelphi’s School of Education.

The relationship between peace and sports dates back to Ancient Greece with the Olympic Truce that required warfare to cease before, during and after the Olympic Games, said Bill Yotive, director of the UN’s global teaching and learning project.

Mary Garguilo, a third-grade teacher at the Leo F. Giblyn International School in Freeport, said children often face pressure from parents in the stands.

"Sometimes the parents are worse than the children when it comes to sports," she said, asking Yotive about ways to include parents in promoting ideas such as sportsmanship.

Yotive said Garguilo raised a relevant point and suggested she help form a program to address the issue. And so she said one idea might be to organize a monthly game where parents and children play together.

By mixing children from different backgrounds on the same soccer team, Arab and Jewish parents normally at odds end up rooting for the same team, said Asaf Toledano, director of the Maccabim Association in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The teachers in Pakistan discussed how Friday’s lessons about peace need to be applied to "strategy" games and not just physical activities.

Facing pressure to raise standardized test scores, educators tend to forget that peace is crucial to a child’s development, said Terna Jahnjeh Tilley-Gyado, a special education teacher at the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music.

"I feel like so often I’m teaching about peace in isolation," she said.