Learning to Make Peaceful Choices

Recently, kindergartners and their eighth-grade buddies spent time together illustrating pictures of various conflicts and their peaceful solutions. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the class discussed different ways of solving problems peacefully. Kindergartners brainstormed several scenarios involving conflicts here at school─either ones that they’ve experienced firsthand or ones they’ve seen happen to someone else. Some of these conflicts included being scrunched in line, having the ball being taken away from you at recess, or two children fighting over a book. We then generated a list of peaceful solutions to these conflicts, some of which included asking politely to stop, doing a “Hands on Hands” with that person, telling a teacher, and/or walking away.