April 2009

Success Story: Playground Conflict Managers

By Jorge Gibbons

On February 24^th, 2009, as part of The Conflict Center’s Full School Program, a celebration was held at Oakland Elementary to recognize and honor the efforts of their Playground Conflict Managers. These students are trained to help their peers with potential conflicts at recess. They often give up their own recess time, or shorten their lunch-time in order to help others.

 

After the ceremony, the mother of one of our Playground Conflict Managers approached me. She praised the Playground Conflict Manager program claiming that the skills her son received from the program were effective beyond the scope of school and came into use at home as well. She described how her son helped diffuse a heated argument between herself and her husband, his step father. Her son, witnessing the conflict, approached them and said, “It seems you are having a conflict. Do you need help in solving it?” This approach to conflict stopped her and her husband in their tracks and resulted in transforming the dynamics of the discussion. Both she and her husband realized that the method in which

they were pursuing the conflict was neither appropriate nor productive. They then engaged their son in a positive conversation.

 

This child utilized the skills he learned in the Playground Conflict Managers program in a personal setting, showing that the skills taught by The Conflict Center translate into everyday life and are applicable in many different forms and in many different settings.