You also have to teach them prosocial skills. Curricula that teach nonviolent ways of resolving conflict are a promising preventive strategy. Lessons work to build empathy and teach impulse control and anger management. For example, in a lower grade lesson, the teacher displays a picture of a face. Other pictures show groups of children in social situations involving conflict.
Discussion is aimed at helping children identify and describe emotions.
Becoming aware of other options is important. Peer conflict management, which evolved from successful peer tutoring programs, is used at elementary, middle, and high school levels. Mediators use a prescribed problem-solving process to help disputants find their own solutions. The staff and students at Woodrow Wilson High School in San Francisco have noticed a difference in halls and classrooms since the program was implemented in 1987. Experts emphasize the importance of reaching kids before gangs do.