Solving Problems in
Peaceful Ways:
Developing Social
Responsibility for our students is a goal shared by all district schools. One
aspect of Social Responsibility from the BC Performance Standards is that
students will learn to Solve Problems in Peaceful Ways. The Performance
Standards’ criterion for Solving Problems in
1.
Conflict will happen when groups of people live and
work together.
2.
Sometimes we need the help of others to solve
conflicts we are experiencing.
3.
Strong emotions are often involved in our
disagreements and conflicts.
Some of the
criteria required for students to “Fully Meet Expectations” of Solving
Problems in Peaceful Ways include the ability to:
1.
Clarify problems, and generate and evaluate
strategies.
2.
Listen to others.
3.
Often show empathy and consider others’ perspective.
4.
Know when to get adult help.
5.
Usually manage anger appropriately in conflict
situation.
At the start of
this New Year, the Safe School Committee encourages our school community to
reflect on how we respond to anger, and angry situations. Anger by itself is neither
right nor wrong; it is just another emotion that we all experience. It is okay
to feel angry; sometimes it is the most appropriate response to a situation.
Feeling angry is not “bad,” but how we behave when we are angry is important.
Angry behaviour (pushing, hitting, name calling, etc.) is not appropriate or
helpful.
To help our
children cope with their angry feelings and situations, encourage them to:
-Recognize when
they are angry and help validate those feelings. “Boy, you are really angry about
it.” “Tell me about it.” or “That must have been hard on you.”
-Give your full
attention when listening to your child’s feelings. Some feelings are hard to
accept; however, a child can often work out these feelings by talking about
them.