West Philadelphia careens out of control this week with the violent behavior of some students wanting attention or wanting to express disrespect or rage at the organization. Yet, I sit here on an Ivy League campus and can’t find anyone who knows if anyone is teaching our college students conflict mediation and negotiation skills. (I think I might have found one professor. I am following up on that.) And when I ask “Who in the city is teaching children about how to address bullying and teaching peacemaking skills?” I can’t find anyone who knows of a curriculum or a program! I have located an incredible principal, Dr. Bob Lewis, who has taken one of the worst middle schools in the city, Shoemaker, and turned it around in one year. (It was highlighted by the Inquirer on Monday.) It would appear however that he has done it with his personality, enforcement of rules, support of good teachers, consistent discipline, and lots of praise. So I guess the next question is “Is anyone teaching other principals to do this?” And are there denominations or churches who are teaching peacemaking to the children? And, if not, why not??!!
Bev
Jeff Draine | 22-Mar-07 at 6:56 am | Permalink
Bev–very good questions. Why does a university like Penn seems so disconnected at times, in spite of the efforts to connect? Efforts include things like the history reviewed here– http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v53/n26/bench.html. One question I have is to what extent to Penn efforts at reaching out serve as a double edge sword–accentuaing difference as well as attempting to help. Sometimes it seems to be a double edge sword, one that does more to defend Penn than be a part of the community solution. For example, Penn Alexander School is by all accounts a fabulous school for many kids in West Philadelphia. But what about the kids a couple blocks over at the Lea school?
Deb Dunbar | 22-Mar-07 at 2:37 pm | Permalink
My children attend an almost all white school in the suburbs. There, they learn peer mediation and peaceful problem resolution. Disruptive bevior is not tolerated, nor does it occur with any frequency. They could all tell you the worldviews of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Mahatma Ghandi, and Albert Einstein. They live in a home where they’ve never witnessed physical violence, and attend a church where these things are discussed regularly.
The ironies here are stark. We live in a world divided, a city divided. How can we better share the riches with all?