Essay on Conflict Resolution and Mediation to End School Violence

Use of Conflict Resolution and Mediation to End School Violence       Conflict and differences of opinion exist in every healthy organization. Americans need to try to take control of today's youth and the violence that is and has been developing in this country for many years.   Although violence will never be extinct, there are many different ways to reduce violence.   Each school and student population has different ways of dealing with and helping to curb the need for violence in schools.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most effective and most common method in dealing with violence in schools is conflict resolution.   It has been used in many different states and in several different formats to try to give the students, faculty, and parents an idea to what may help stop or prevent this violence and other problems from happening.   According to the Texas Youth Commission, there are ten main reasons for instituting a school-based conflict resolution/mediation program.   They are as follows: * Conflict is a natural human state that becomes more prevalent during personal growth. * A more effective system is needed to deal with conflict in the school than expulsion or court intervention. * The use of mediation to resolve school-based problems can result in improved communication between and among student, teachers, and parents. * Mediation training assists in preparing students to live in a multicultural world. * Shifting responsibility for solving conflicts from teachers to young adults will free teachers to focus on teaching. * Mediation provides a system of problem solving that is uniquely suited to the personal nature of young people's problems. * Mediation training increases students' interest in con... ...vary by ethnicity, family income, or geographic location" (Factors, 2).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is obvious that the use of conflict resolution and mediation is essential in our school systems.   Not only does it provide a safer way to talk out the problems between students; it also gives us a mean to handle the problem of violence in our schools more safely.    Works Cited Harberg Consulting Group. Conflict Resolution. [Online].  Ã‚   Available: http://www.hcgnet.com/html/conflictresolution.htm (November 20, 1998) Author Unknown. Factors Contributing To School Violence. [Online].Available: http://ericweb.tc.columbia.edu/monographs/uds107/prerentingfactors.html (September 21, 1998) Author Unknown. Ten Reasons for Instituting A School-Based Mediation Program. [Online]. Available: http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/prevention/medprog.html. (November 20, 1998).