Defining Terms
- Conflict: a natural, fundamental, and pervasive part of life. It is what happens when things are opposed — when different interests, claims, preferences, beliefs, feelings, values, ideas, or truths collide. (Peter Coleman and Robert Ferguson)
- Bullying: unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. (stopbullying.gov)
- Cyberbullying: bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. (stopbullying.gov)
- Microaggressions: brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership. (Derald Wing Sue)
- Conflict resolution: the process for resolving a conflict, usually using specific strategies.
- Restorative practices (or restorative justice): a philosophy, not a curriculum, focusing on building positive relationships and providing opportunities for community members to take responsibility for their behavior while remaining connected to the community. An intentional restorative approach fosters a compassionate, relationship-centered culture. (Conflict Center)
How Conflict Shows Up
- One out of every five students report being bullied. The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, and sexual orientation. More than one third of bullying reports by adolescents are bias-based. (National Center for Educational Statistics)
- Students with disabilities report greater rates of victimization than their peers without disabilities, and their victimization remains consistent over time. When reporting bullying, youth in special education were told “not to tattle” almost twice as often as youth not in special education. (Youth Voice Project)
- 59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online, and a similar percentage says it’s a major problem for people their age. (Pew Research Center)
- Research on microaggressions provides strong evidence that they lead to elevated levels of depression and trauma for people of color. (Center for Health Journalism)
- Family conflict, family dynamics, and school problems are among the primary risk factors that lead teens to runaway, resulting in homelessness. (Congressional Research Service)
Local Actions to Engage in Conflict Resolution
- Start with yourself and your club or friend group. What conflicts or uncomfortable dynamics have played out, and how have they been addressed (or have they gone unaddressed)? Create a circle led by a trained facilitator, whether a peer mediator or a trusted teacher. Talk through the issues and work to reach an understanding that everyone feels good about. If your group can’t resolve conflict within itself, how are you going to work on conflict resolution in the wider school? The hardest work is always with ourselves.
- Work to become a trained facilitator to manage group discussions and conflict that may arise. YCD offers a five-part training series for students to receive a certificate in youth facilitation.
- Enact an anti-bullying campaign. There are many resources and options online; one to check out is the HEAR for High Schools program, which was created by experts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The program is delivered by trained members of the National Guard at no cost for schools, with a special focus on cyberbullying. A second option to investigate is Kind Campaign, which focuses on girl-on-girl bullying. If these programs aren’t a good fit, do some research to find a program that matches your school’s need, or contact us for more guidance or advice. Make sure to pick a program that matches and addresses your community’s need and is culturally competent for your student body