I write my posts ahead of when they go live, and when I saw that this piece would become available on the twenty-third anniversary of one of the worst days in American/human history, I decided I'd write about the importance of teaching/ preaching/ leading people to seek peace.
On my campus, one thoughtful, enterprising student (with help from others, including me) has worked tirelessly for my school to earn the No Place for Hate designation for the past two years (and we hope for this year as well). This national initiative of the Anti-Defamation League (I know that there are legit complaints about how the ADL has approached the violence in the Middle East. This post isn't about that but about their long-time work with students. If you want to write a guest post about the ADL or about the Israeli/Palestine conflict, please let me know.) helps schools attempt to eliminate hate speech and hateful actions on campuses. This year and last, we've focused our efforts on how to help students and faculty have difficult conversations, especially with people who don't agree with them. Hello, upcoming election.
While many people avoid any kind of confrontation, thinking that if they have a different opinion than another person, the best path is to keep their mouths shut, we've been trying to raise the idea that it's way better for everyone involved if they can share ideas in kind, respectful, thoughtful ways. Rather than letting disagreements fester unchecked and unaired, we're trying to get people to learn to build on any common values to forge amicable relationships across the divides.
Three educators at our school have been particularly helpful in this work.
- One works with the University of Chicago's Free Expression model.
- One espouses ThinkArguments' The Disagreement Project.
- One has practiced for years to run group mediations.
We're lucky to have their expertise to guide us.
Do I believe that more of this type of work could have prevented the horrors of 9/11/2001, maybe not. BUT do I believe we'd have had twenty-three years of more productive and fruitful progress since then with more of this kind of education, certainly I do.
What are your thoughts on teaching conflict resolution? Please share responses and suggestions in the comments.
No matter who wins the next presidential election, it seems our divisions are getting deeper and our animosity greater, with the people turning against each other, and the politicians refusing to cooperate or compromise to get anything done.
Yes, this is a frustrating and long-term problem. I wonder how/if we’ll be able to get to a place of kindness and cooperation.