The barrage of reports of violence among teenagers should call attention to the importance of youth receiving conflict resolution training. This is training that can contribute to safer streets. But to get their attention it must be geared to the problem as they see it. In her interviews with inner-city seventh graders, S. Opotow found that they dismissed physical risks as a secondary consideration in conflict and instead feared social isolation, humiliation, and loss of status. Saving face is another way of saying that an individual feels she has not been humiliated.
Face saving is critically important in the lives of so many people around the world.
Many find it so necessary to maintain face that they will do whatever it takes not to lose face. For example, many teenagers will risk gunshot or knife wounds before performing an action they believe would be seen as losing face. While this view may seem absurd, it is the culture of many young people. So the task is to help teenagers move away from haphazardly performed face saving measures by providing them with training that will enable them to save face skillfully. After all competent conflict resolution skills are needed to save face and avoid violence skillfully.