Essay on Conflict Resolution and Mediation to End School Violence

Since the establishment of public education in the United States, schools have provided a sense of security and belonging to their students. Although sitting through lectures and doing homework may not be the most exciting thing in the world, students will always have a lunch to eat, a roof over their head, and a supportive teacher or counselor that they can talk to. Despite the “safe” environment and presence of authoritative figures on school campuses, trouble always finds a way to break out. Simple misbehaving and occasional fights are a common occurrence on most school campuses, however a new breed of troublesome and violent students has hatched. The

All in all, the way to stop school violence is to stop the bullying in the school. There is too large of a focus on security. The little things that are often over looked are often the things that cause a major problem.

While some schools have protocols and procedures for such acts of violence, one has to ask, was it not preventable? Is there not some way to teach people to deal with their issues in a non-violent way? And if there were methods of developing some social and emotional skills among students, could they help prevent emotional and physical harm inflicted on so many people every day? Unfortunately, many times this is left up to parental guidance. Many parents are unaware how to teach and

Mediation is a preventative method of alternative dispute resolution, which does not prevent conflict but in this application would allow students to seek resolutions other than violence and avoid the consequence of formal discipline (CommunityMediation, by NAFCM, 2010; Costantino, Merchant, & Ury, 1996). From the video, one would infer there is a substantial need for a school peer mediation program as evidenced by the sharing of several incidents of conflicts between students (CommunityMediation, by NAFCM, 2010). According to Bush and Folger (1994), in addition to resolving conflicts, the mediation process can facilitate the strengthening of the student’s ability to deal with difficulties, by engaging in deliberate reflection, choice and action,

There are three major conflict management strategies to resolving conflicts. It starts with reconciling the interests of each party, assessing who is right, and determining who is more powerful. First, an interest-based approach allows disputants to focus on reconciling their underlying interests. They can do this through negotiation, facilitated alternative dispute resolution, or mediation. It requires each party to be open about their wants, needs, fears, and concerns. It also need them to be willing to listen and understand each other point of view. Generally, this means moving away from positions and instead, figuring out why each person hold these positions. By focusing on each person interests, parties

Totally elimination school violence is nearly impossible. However, preventing or reducing the number of incidents is possible. There are three important strategies that are essential to use in the study of reducing and preventing school violence.

Creating a positive, proactive and peaceful learning environment is one of the primary goals in the contemporary classroom. Over the past few decades, however, violence has unfortunately

Due to the increased violence in educational settings in recent years “law enforcement and school officials are searching for solutions to reduce school violence generally and weapons-related violence more specifically” (Wylie, et al., 2010). Extreme punitive policies such as zero tolerance, and increased school security systems have not been met with much success in decreasing the problem. Therefore, “policy makers are exploring alternatives” (Wylie, et al., 2010). The purpose of this research study

If there is violence in our schools, our children may regress or may not be able to learn the necessary skills that will allow them to become productive members of society. One way for this to be solved is for harsher punishments to be placed. Obviously, students or criminals are not getting “the picture” if they keep repeating the same crime over. If the consequences have to be worse than jail time then so be it. These harsher punishments hopefully will be a scare tactic so no one thinks that they can start violence in schools. If this problem is not solved, our future may be at stake. Overall, that is how we can fix “Violence in Schools.”

does depends on their punishment. A lot of times when a person fights someone, they will get

School violence, in recent history, seems to have taken the United States by storm. Be it a shooting, such as the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the inappropriate relationships between teacher and student, such as Stephanie Figueroa whom initiated one such relationship with her 11-year-old karate student, or the multiple fights we see on social media that take place in schools. With each passing week, we see a new story that falls in one of these categories. Today, we look at the types of, causes of and how to prevent violence in what should be a safe place and second home for our youth.

In resolving conflict, ask the question, “How do we keep this from happening again?” The first thing is to be objective. This helps in managing conflict by keeping team members focused on the problem at hand (Huber, 2007)

A conflict is a disagreement between two individuals. A conflict resolution is both individuals having an understanding and coming to an agreement on the conflict. The conflict can be resolved by both parties having a perspective of the other point of views. According to, Bisno, H. (1988)," Conflict, arguments, and change are natural parts of our lives, as well as the lives of every agency, organization, and nation. Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or emotional. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is negotiation to resolve the disagreement. The goals of negotiation is to produce a solution that all parties can agree to, work as quickly as possible to find this solution, and improve, not hurt, the relationship between the groups in conflict. Conflict resolution through negotiation can be good for all parties involved. Often, each side will get more by participating in negotiations than they would by walking away, and it can be a way for your group to get resources that might otherwise be out of reach."

School-based violence is not a problem confined to schools but is a complex, multifaceted societal issue (Antonowicz, 2012). School violence is often correlated to cultural traditions, traditions, political agendas, breakdowns in communication, and weaknesses in the education system (Antonowicz, 2010). When addressing school violence, educational institutions should create environments that have an awareness of the causes, prevalence and a plan of action to respond to the situation.

The issue of school violence is very negative for most schools. School violence in the United States leads many people to panic when they consider the issue. Violence in school takes many forms and includes, raping, bullying, stealing, harming and killing other students or members of staff. It is essential that teachers, students, parents and schools take the necessary measures to curb this violent attitude in children. Such an attitude will negatively affect their future emotionally and academically..