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Conflict Resolution Education Conflict is a natural, and important part of life. When conflict is understood, it can be an
opportunity to learn, negotiate and create. The challenge for people in conflict is to apply the principles of creative cooperation
in their human relationships. Richard Bodine, Donna Crawford,
and Fred Schrumpf. Having safe and orderly environments in our Nation's
school are essential to promoting high standards for learning and ensuring that all children are given the opportunity to
develop to their fullest potential. No teacher should ever be afraid to enter a classroom, and no child should ever stay home
because they fear for their safety. Unfortunately, young people face conflicts before, during and after school. They are subjected
to bullying, teasing, and senseless, and sometimes fatal disputes over clothing, mis-communication, and other personal possessions.
These conflicts begin at school or are brought into school from home, the neighborhood or community. As a former school in-house social worker, I often witnessed such conflict and violence firsthand. I have opened
a suspicious student's locker to find a handgun, recovered a butcher's knife from the coat of a student in the health room,
and help to divert a large hate-group gang aiming to provoke violence on another group. Additionally, I have witnessed and
assisted students in conflict by teaching them negotiating and conflcit resolution skills. I was amazed at the natural abilities
that many of these kids possessed. When children are provided with conflict resolution skills they work together to promote
a peaceful resolution to their disputes. During this process, they begin to show empathy, develop and use their own problem
solving and self-determination skills, while also making informed decisions for themselves. These valuable skills can be taken
with them to use at other stages of their lives when faced with conflict. We
are not powerless to preventing destructive behaviors in our schools. We can be prepared to intervene successfully to prevent
conflicts from escalating into violent acts by providing young people with the knowledge and skills needed to settle disputes
peacefully. Conflict resolution education can help reduce suspensions, disciplinary referrals, academic disruptions, school
fights, violent altercations, and family/sibling disputes. It is important to understand that conflict resolution education
is a critical component of comprehensive, community-based efforts to prevent violence and reduce crime. As teachers and other adults, we cannot solve young people's problems for them. We can, however, provide them
with the knowledge, skills, and encouragement to resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner, using communication and social
skills instead of fists or weapons. Conflict resolution education involves negotiation, peer mediation, and consensus
decisionmaking, which allow all parties involved to explore peaceful solutions to a conflict. When these problem-solving processes
to conflict and strife become a way of life, young people begin to value getting along instead of getting even or getting
their way. I urge you to help make our schools and our communities safer places
for all. The cost of this program can be paid for by submission of a grant to state and federal government agencies, which
in most cases place no direct costs on the schools. Please contact Randy Hoerschgen at (573) 632-2020 for additional information.
"The use of conflict management skills by everyone in our
school community is the key component of our district's efforts to become a multicultural organization." ~School
superintendent, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Rationale for Establishing Conflict Resolution Education Programs There are compelling reasons for every school to teach youth conflict resolution. The problem-solving processes of conflict resolution (negotiation, mediation, and consensus decision-making) can
improve the school climate. Conflict resolution strategies can
reduce violence, vandalism, chronic school absenses, disciplinary referrals, and suspensions. Conflict resolution training helps students and school personnel deepen understanding of themselves and others
and also develops important life skills. Training in negotiation,
mediation, and consensus decisionmaking encourages a high level teamwork and cooperation. Shifting the responsibility for resolving conflicts to students frees adults to concentrate more on teaching
and less on discipline. Behavior management systems that are more
effective than detention, suspension, or expulsion are needed to deal with conflict in a school setting. Conflict resolution training increases skills in listening, critical thinking, and probelm
solving skills basic to all learning. Conflict resolution education
emphasizes seeing other points of view and resolving differences peacefully - skills that assist and prepare children to
live in a multicultural environment. Negotiation and mediation are
problem-solving tools that are well suited to the problems that young people encounter, and those trained in these approaches
often use them to solve problems for which they would not seek adult help.
"We have a juvenile justice system that in many states is bankrupt and is starting too late. You cannot start
with a 16- or 17-year-old who has dropped out of school and who was the drug dealer's gofer when he was 13. You've got
to start earlier.. . . We can do tremendous amounts of good through conflict resolution programs in our public schools."
~Former Attorney General Janet Reno
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