Communication Skills: Conflict Resolution Education Curriculum is a key modality. Teachers, staff and administrators are trained to integrate conflict resolution and management as a life skill into existing curricula and to facilitate positive change within the school community by aligning school mission statements, disciplinary procedures, and team-building efforts with conflict resolution concepts and theories.

Social and Emotional Learning: Teaches self awareness, empathy, impulse control, motivation and social skills. Social and emotional learning is the process through which children (and adults) acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. SEL programming is based on the understanding that the best learning emerges in the context of supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging and meaningful.

Restorative Circles & Dialogues: This works well right from the start. Children of elementary age start the day in a circle with their teacher.  Everyone gets to see each other and do a check-in. In this way, there is space for young ones to share what is happening in their lives.  Perhaps a death in the family, a birth, someone in the hospital, divorce… despite the trauma, kids are expected to “behave” and appear normal.  Modeling depth is always a good thing and that’s where a teacher willing to be vulnerable is helpful.

Restorative Justice with trained facilitator: This is when an offense has taken place on school grounds involving one or more persons.  All parties impacted by that situation come together and each is pre-interviewed.  It is essential that the “offender” is willing to take responsibility and make things better.  Victims must agree as well.   Both victim and offender are invited to bring support people with them.

Mindfulness/Meditation: Mindfulness is a simple but powerful technique to focus attention, manage emotions, handle stress, and resolve conflicts. This allows youth to make wiser decisions in the heat of the moment, rather than only in retrospect – and can provide a much more positive school environment.

Peer Mediation: This is Peer-to-Peer mediation and does not involve teachers or adults.

Other examples:

• Nonviolent Communication
• Bullying cessation programs
• Quality after-school and out-of-school programming
• Teaching children about peace and peacebuilding movements, what kind of work is happening around the world, what needs to happen, etc.
• Better school discipline and empowering alternatives to in-school suspension

Include areas above in Common Core guidelines and funding

• Include areas above in state and local school policies and funding
• Academic, Social and Emotional Learning Act, (H.R.850) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Include Restorative Justice and other related programs in U.S. Dept. of Education disciplinary guidelines.
• Implement universal, school-based violence prevention at all schools, particularly in neighborhoods highly impacted by violence

Meditation/mindfulness practices in schools have noticeable benefits — studies have shown suspensions decrease by 79 percent, attendance increases by over 98% and academic performance is noticeably increased. [NBC News, Jan. 1, 2015 http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/san-francisco-schools-transformed-power-meditation-n276301]

According to a recent report on the economic benefit of evidence-based prevention programs, the Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) program produced a $50 benefit for every $1 invested in terms of reduced corrections costs, welfare and social services burden, drug and mental health treatment; and increased employment and tax revenue. [Return on investment: Evidence-based options to improve statewide outcomes. October 2013 (Printed on 3-20-14). Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.]

Bullied  victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it. [Int J Adolesc Med Health 20 (2), 2008]

 Nearly 1 in 3 students (27.8%) report being bullied during the school year. [National Center for Educational Statistics, 2013]

64 percent of children who were bullied did not report it; only 36 percent reported the bullying. [Petrosina, Guckenburg, DeVoe, and Hanson, 2010]

A 2011 analysis of 213 Social and Emotional Learning programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students published in the journal Child Development found that the participants demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, attitudes and behavior compared with a control group, as well as an 11-point gain in academic achievement percentiles. [Child Development, January/February 2011, Volume 82, Number 1, Pages 405-432]

Restorative Justice programs in a West Oakland Middle School pilot project eliminated violent fights and expulsions, and reduced suspension rates by more than 75%. [Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth http://rjoyoakland.org/programs/]

Mindfulness or Quiet Time practices in schools have shown to bring about a 40% reduction in psychological distress, including stress, anxiety and depression [American Journal of Hypertension 22(12): 1326-1331, 2009]

High schools in Ohio with conflict management programs (Conflict Resolution Education Curriculum) reported that physical violence decreased as much as 43%. The annual cost per student to administer the school conflict management grant training program is approximately $12.00. When compared to the per student cost of suspending a child ($231.00) or expelling a student ($431.00), the program has been cost effective.

The groups are listed here for educational purposes only.  Listing them here is not meant to imply that they endorse the above ideas.

Mindful Schools:

They offer online training courses for adults to learn mindfulness and use it with youth. Mindfulness is a simple but powerful technique to focus attention, manage emotions, handle stress, and resolve conflicts. This allows youth to make wiser decisions in the heat of the moment, rather than only in retrospect. Their mindfulness curriculum brings improvements in concentration, attention, and empathy, while building a climate of calm in the classroom. Click here to see an informative film.

Peace Exchange Chicago: Speaking Peace in Schools:

The Peace Exchange trains youth Peace Builders in nonviolence and leadership. The Peace Exchange offers the Speaking Peace program to elementary schools in Chicago (grades 5-8th). The program offers children the tools needed to avoid and peacefully resolve conflicts. The four-session program teaches tolerance, responsible decision-making, and nonviolence through discussions, role-playing, and documentary films. the program touches on a number of social / emotional learning (SEL) skills with emphases on fostering self-awareness, empathy and acting responsibly.