Why NonViolent Communication (NVC) and Conflict Resolution skills in the Schools?
Many young people learn how to handle a conflict from the environment around them. (Social Learning Theory – Bandura) Young people today face an environment that promotes violence as a method of handling conflict. Not all parents are advocates of a non-violent approach to conflict. In fact favoured advice includes “If they hit you, hit them back only harder”. Not all parents adopt this approach and many do provide excellent role models. However, around adolescence parental advice is often rejected with enthusiasm and replaced with peer advice. Peer advice is based on the environment that peer interactions occur. High profile episodes of school violence such as those in Littleton, Colorado, Paducah, Kentucky and Springfield, Oregon, have increased the public’s awareness and concern about violence in our schools. With the focus on the damaging results of violence and over reliance on formal legal measures, students who are involved in even minor conflict may find themselves in detention,
