Conflict

Dear Parents,

Conflict or disagreement is normal and often happens when children get together. However, hurtful words, gestures, or physical attack are unacceptable ways to deal with conflict and disagreement.  Small problems are those that children are smart enough and strong enough to solve themselves.  Big problems are those that are dangerous or scary and get reported immediately to adults. 

Our goal is to support students with several positive ways to deal with small problems. To do this, we are asking students who have small problems to try at least two of the following ideas:

1. Go to another game or activity.

2. Share and take turns.

3. Talk it Out.

4. Walk away from the problem.

5. Ignore the problem behavior.

6. Tell the person to stop.

7. Apologize.

8. Make a deal or compromise.

9. Wait to cool off.

Ideally, this will be done before asking for adult help. When a request for adult help is made, it will include the two ideas tried: "Mrs. Hania, Zaid is teasing me about my glasses. I tried ignoring him, and I've told him it hurts my feelings when he makes fun of me. I told him to stop also and he's still calling me names."  The adult at school will get involved and help solve the problem. Of course, when serious conflicts which cause a child to feel threatened or frightened are reported, we will handle them immediately.

By using this plan, we believe that our students will develop effective confidence and problem-solving skills that they can use again and again. It will help them to deal with conflict in a positive manner and to make appropriate decisions. Knowing what to do will help students reduce the stress and number of conflicts they have.

We launched this program at school this week. Colorful charts illustrating ways to deal with conflict will be posted so all children will know their choices.  The scorpion character is named Wadi.  We encourage you to become familiar with this and use it in your home. By working together, we can develop a healthy life skill for young people to use at home and at school.