Contact: Sharon Pickett 301-365-9307
or Jennifer Druliner 202-464-9700 ext. 228
Expert
Discusses Ways to Reduce Bullying and Help Youth
Resolve Conflicts
National News Event: The Association
for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is proud to co-sponsor
the Second Annual National Youth Violence Prevention
Week, an educational initiative organized by The
Guidance Channel and the National Association
of Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E.).
Throughout the week of March 29-April 2, 2004,
students across the country will engage in educational
activities designed to prevent youth violence.
Each day of the week will focus on a specific
violence prevention strategy including promoting
respect and tolerance, anger management, resolving
conflicts peacefully, supporting safety, and uniting
in action. An Action Kit describing activities
is available through the campaign’s Web
site.
Speaker: Priscilla Prutzman,
MA is available to talk about Youth Violence Prevention
Week and specific strategies that she uses to
work with young people in the suburbs of New York
City. Prutzman is co-founder and executive director
of Creative Response to Conflict and a member
of the Board of Directors of the Association for
Conflict Resolution. She teaches courses in conflict
resolution, mediation and bias awareness and is
on the steering committee of the Campaign to End
Homophobia, an organization that is developing
anti-homophobia educational materials from a multicultural
perspective. She has received awards from The
National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict
Resolution and the National Peace Foundation.
Prutzman is co-author of The Friendly Classroom
for a Small Planet and Children's Songs
for a Friendly Planet, as well as other curriculum
materials. She lives in Nyack, New York.
Topic for Discussion: As violence
and shootings continue to plague our nation's
classrooms, more and more schools are turning
to the principles of conflict resolution to help
young people resolve conflicts peacefully. Thousands
of public schools now have some type of conflict
resolution and/or violence prevention program.
These programs take a variety of forms including
efforts to address the problem of bullying, integrating
conflict resolution ideas into curricula, using
role play to help young people practice alternative
responses to conflict, and training young people
to serve as mediators with their peers. All programs
are designed to create a positive environment
where students feel safe and welcomed and able
to resolve their differences without violence.
These programs not only foster safer schools,
but also impart positive values and skills (appreciating
differences, active listening, empathy, impulse
control, anger management, etc.) in the next generation
of adults. Some studies also suggest that participation
in conflict resolution programs increases academic
performance. Educators believe that peer mediation
programs contribute to increases in students’
academically-relevant skills and their comfort
level in school. Conflict resolution programs
are also becoming more common at the college level,
with more than 220 colleges and universities now
using campus-based mediation programs to address
student, faculty and community disputes.
Interviews Available Upon Request
(1/28/04)
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