The best time to each violence prevention to anyone is to stress the importance of it at an age as young as possible. We teach babies not to hit, spit or kick their siblings or playmates and continue that teaching throughout their formative years. Sometimes children learn these behavioral principles early on, and sometimes it takes other children a little longer to understand that they shouldn’t do those aggressive things.
By the time those little ones get to kindergarten, hopes are that they’ve learned social skills and there won’t be any problems with aggressive behavior. It sounds good, but it’s not always the case and behavioral skills just have to be re-taught. Teaching children how to avoid violent behavior as kindergartners should start early on and as quickly as possible.
The first step is helping them to understand social and interactive skills that teach them how to respect others by talking and sharing. Something as small even as sharing a pair of scissors or crayons can help little kids interact and learn how to practice patience while dealing with other people. Violence begins when there is no understanding or appreciation of another person’s opinion, resulting in a breakdown of communications. Teaching kindergartners to share and be polite avoids aggressive behavior and is a step towards reducing violence in their future.
To help kindergartners avoid violent behavior, adults should de-emphasize any instances where violent behavior is exhibited. This means ignoring them when they do things they shouldn’t. Aside from addressing issues that are overly-aggressive, small things like breaking in line, yelling out in class, shoving their classmate or snatching crayons from their neighbor are all things that the teacher should react calmly and quietly too. Giving the situation too much attention or dwelling on it too long reinforces to the child that they can get attention if they do “that thing.” The situation can often be diffused by addressing the problem quietly, away from the crowd (if possible) and following it up with what “is” expected from the child. Most often, by confronting the situation in this matter, they will exhibit the behavior that you want them to as long as they continue to receive a positive reaction to their behavior.
Learning is something that everyone needs to make a habit of by exposing themselves to the resources that can bring them knowledge and understanding. There are many resources for learning with an abundance of books and libraries, but the Internet has quickly become the preferred source of learning for adults and children, and has become one of the first places people go to for information.
Foraying into the World Wide Web is a very entertaining, educational and wonderful place to be to gain knowledge and find resources for various situations. However, the Internet can also be a dangerous place, especially for children if they don’t know what sites and pages to avoid. They may find themselves in Internet territory that is unsafe and scary. As adults, we can help them navigate their way around the Internet and still have fun and learn all at the same time. Here’s how:
1.) Install firewalls onto the computer system to make sure children don’t venture into taboo Internet territory, whether on purpose or by mistake. Firewalls can prevent them from going into sites that are age-inappropriate. Parents and other adults can safely monitor the firewalls by keeping software updates current and making sure that the firewalls are properly installed.
2.) Parents can and should closely monitor Internet safety sites that their children frequent. To do this, they can review the computer’s cookies to look at the last few site(s) that have been clicked.
3.) Communication is a key component in observing Internet safety for kids and helps parents to avoid problems that can happen as a result. Talking to kids about what is safe, what conversations are appropriate and inappropriate, what type of information they should give out online and pertinent information like this will help discourage unsavory behavior in the Internet world.
Fear should not be a part of the wonderful Internet, but through proper education and a thorough working knowledge of Internet acceptable behavior, children can use this invaluable resource as a tool to use to enhance and expand their knowledge base.
Teen violence is a real problem for many of today’s schools. Administrators have the challenge of finding ways to keep teens from committing acts of violence or from becoming a victim of violent situations. In many regards, students may not understand what behavioral characteristics lead to violent behavior, therefore it is the duty of the school’s administrators and faculty to educate and discourage behavior that can lead to violent situations.
Teenagers are faced with real problems in the school system today with drugs, violence and peer pressure from their peer groups. They may be faced with situations that they do not know how to handle. They may also have the unfortunate possibility of not having been educated on how to avoid situations that lead to mass violence. Here are a few tips that can help educated those teens and those that are responsible for them:
For Educators:
1.) Have frequent educational school seminars and meeting on what typifies violent behavior. As things change, so do rules and laws and things to watch for. Educating students helps them to understand what to avoid.
2.) Have solo meetings with students as needed. One way to dispel violence is to cut it off before it begins. Students with mild violence or behavioral problems can usually be helped before the situation gets worse or more situations occur.
For Students:
1.) Avoid situations that place you in harms way. If you’re approached to do things that can cause problems, detach yourself from those persons that can bring you into trouble.
2.) Ask for help. If you’re placed into any awkward situation with your friends, go to a counselor or an adult that may be able to bring closure to the situation or remove you from it altogether. Association is the first component that gets students into trouble and they usually don’t ask for help until it has gotten out of their control.
Violence is not something that the student has to settle for just because they’re in awkward situations or they feel there isn’t anything that they can do. Help and education is available if they need it and they should reach out as soon as possible for assistance, education and understanding.
