Violence occurs in many ways in our world and in our classrooms. One alternative to violence is Conflict Resolution. When i worked in a professional development school program in Cleveland, i participated with one such program, Winning Against Violent Environments (WAVE). You can learn more about WAVE by accessing
http://www.state.oh.us/cdr/schools/w.a.v.e.htm.

Teach peace. This is one of the messages of conflict resolution. But i can also teach peace in terms of my actions. If you are interested in finding out more about how our children illustrate their desire for peace, check out the following website:

Greater Lansing Youth for Peace and Justice    http://www.msu.edu/~beerchr1

To find out more about an international group of women who are working for peace and social justice, check out the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom website for more information on their work:

http://www.wilpf.org.

If the people lead, the leaders should follow (in a democracy, that is how it is purported to work), it is up to us to insist on PEACE.