Newspaper Page Text
August 1097-National BLACK MONITOR
Conflict Resolution: A Needed Element in
| The Education of Our Children
"
D ON'T waste no time hating ole
Massa. That won't help you be free.
Thatll jest make you a slave for life."
--Suzanna Trible, a Virginia ex-slave
This wasthe best advice this "slave
quarter mammy"* could give to her
children as they ventured onthe road
to *first freedom." It is the best advice
that our foremothers can give to us
today.
VIOLENCE has escalatedto alarm
ing levels in our homes, our streets
and our schools. The incidence of
teen and even pre-teen murder of
each other, or of others, especially
the elderly, are common place news
items. The presence of gangs and
runaways in so many of our African-
American neighborhoods and com
munities are strong indictments of
our fractured families and institu
tions. Young people say they join
gangs or run away from home to find
love, family and security. If we are
unable to understand the logic of this
behavior, we are not alone, but we
are also in denial.
The frowns of hate are more evi
dent on our children's faces than the
smiles of love. Hate leads to violence.
Violence is the result of unresolved
conflicts within individuals, families,
neighborhoods,communities,
groups, tribes, nations. Our families
must learn how to recognize, accept
and resolve conflicts. Our families
must learn the skills and the art of
nonviolent conflict resolution. Our
families must accept the responsibil
ity of teaching all of their members
these valuable tools that must be
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learned if our civilization is to endure.
OUR schools must not only teach
reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic--our
schools must teach resolution. Con
flict resolution, that is. Our schools
must provide the training and experi
ences that will lead to the develop
ment of the skills and the art of "de
tecting, deflecting, disarming, and de
fusing" conflict.
Peer mediation programs, class
room mediation skill-building pro
grams, classroom and schoolwide
*peaceable schools," programs and
violence prevention pro%rams in el
ementary and high schools; and
ombudspersons, peer mediation and
stafftrainingin colleges and universi
ties are more and more becoming a
"Consciousness-Raising in Black America--An AOIP Mission"
" é ki
e e y
Ks| ~w : ad lq .\
N y 1 Q%
Is Your Organization Actively Involved in Local AOIP Division Organizing ?
part of the curricula in various types
of academic settings. Training is the
key word here. We are not born with
the proficiences that make us auto
matic conflict resolution facilitators.
To carry out these programs effec
tively, training on a broad scale must
be available tofamilies andteachers.
Several organizations directly in
volved insuchtraining programs have
recently surfaced, such as the Na
tional Institute for Dispute Resolution
and the former National Association
for Mediation in Education. These
two organizations have sponsored a
Manual for Educators, titled, Conflict
Resolution in the Schools [published
by Jossey-Bass Publishers in San
Francisco).
Another organization, Educators for
Socialßesponsibility (ESR), offers in
structional media in the form of vid-
eos from its 'Reso!vin%Conflict Cre
atively Program* (RCC L with catchy
titles such as "Waging Peace in Our
Schools," "A Fistful of Words,* and
*An %/e foranEye...Makes the Whole
World Blind."
The book titles include Battles,
Hassles, Tantrums & Tears: Strate
ies for Coping with Conflict and
gfaking Peace at Home, Toachmg
Conflict Resolution Thro:g
Children's Literature, The Peaceable
Classroom, K-8, An Integrated Ap
proach to Conflict Resolutionand Vio
lence Prevention in Middle and High
Schools, and Creative Conflict Reso
lution: Building Safe, Caring, and
Respectful Leaming Communities.
ESF{’glso holds institutes and work
shops for educators, families and
communities.
HOW many of our African-Ameri
can organizations have programs
aimed at teaching conflict resolution
skills? Are the organizations in our
African-American communities even
aware of the need for such pro
grams? *Consciousness-raising in
lack America" is one of the avowed
missions of AOIP. Via this publica
tion, which is the "official national
interorganizational magazine of
AOIP," articleswill continually feature
"How-to" advice and other tips sothat
our organizational leaders can de
vise programs to help our schools
(andfamilies) carry outthis mandate.
SOON, we hope to be able to ask:
*Are you helping to complete the un
finished work of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. by joining in support of the
‘Conflict Resolution Prgrc};‘rams‘ of your
fellow organizations?* The nonviolent
resolution of the conflicts of our soci
ety was the motivating force of Dr.
Martin Luther King's life and labor.