Just as students need to feel their thoughts and ideas are heard, so too do the adults. A school with effective communication strategies insures that its staff has the means and opportunities to talk with each other. Media Americans have romanticized violence in our history, in our teaching of history, and in our entertainment. The most powerful communication influence upon American children is the mass media, especially television, and the rapidly growing computer ne tworks. The typical child has witnessed more than 8,000 murders and hundreds of thousands of acts of violence on television by the end of eighth grade.
Children spend so much time in front of the television that it becomes the real world.
Schools can addre ss this assault on peace with numerous strategies. One person in the school district should be designated as the media contact. Second, schools can also lobby the media directly at every opportunity, not only for less violence on television, but also to promote the positive attributes of peace, be they programs and projects of positive actions on the part of youth or programs related to peace in and of themselves. Showcase quality learning. Letters to the editor can be utilized.