Second Step helps kids develop skills to solve problems without violence. School violence is addresed both by giving students violence-prevention skills and by training kids to assist their peers in resolving conflicts. Before becoming involved with Second Step, I thought that kids either had empathy or they didn't, but I was wrong. You can teach kids empathetic responses. For example, we use role playing to help kids learn how another person might be feeling.
Kids learn to put situations in context.
For example, if they see a picture of a boy sitting on a curb looking sad and there is a group of kids standing to the side talking, they begin to see the connection between the kids in the group and the boy's feelings, and conclude that he might be feeling excluded. If kids don't understand the consequences of their actions on others, they are more likely to be victimizers. Victimizers act in their own interests and depersonalize their victims. Our society is very litigious and adversarial. We can give kids another way of looking at things and new ways to resolve problems.