Peace Works: Reducing Violence and Transforming Youth

Youth develop skills to resolve conflicts and promote peace

A Peace Works student works through an activity on problem solving and goal setting.

In the Peace Works program, youth learn how to identify destructive emotions and behaviors, as well as how to communicate in ways that deescalate conflicts.

The decision to place a student in one of Milwaukee Public Schools’ Behavioral Reassignment (BR) schools usually comes as a surprise to the student. “What is this? Why do I even have to go here?” were the first thoughts that ran through the mind of a student reassigned to a BR school.

BR schools are alternative schools designed to provide continued education for students who have been expelled from their previous school due to behavior or character issues. This is one of the settings in which the Center for Peacemaking offers the Peace Works program.

Because of the generosity of donors, students have a space to talk about their emotions and learn how to improve their behaviors. Donors help create this needed space for youth at a time when they feel everyone else has given up on them. One of the first observations Shafiq, an MPS high school student, made when he started attending Peace Works at his BR school was: “The people at Peace Works don’t judge and they will accept you.” This is one of the first steps Peace Works staff take to build relationships with their new students. It also validates to the students how they perceive themselves: “I’m not a bad kid. Most of us just made mistakes but we aren’t bad people,” said Adai, a Peace Works student at an MPS BR school.

While many people have given up on students by the time they are placed in BR schools, Peace Works gives them a second chance. When students use Peace Works skills to identify and change their behavior, it puts them a step closer to returning to a regular MPS school.

While most people have given up on students by the time they are placed in BR schools, Peace Works gives them a second chance. The students need people who believe that giving them the opportunity to participate in Peace Works can help them find a new path to success. “We find that in most cases when students ‘act up’ it is because they don’t know how to constructively deal with their emotions. The reason that students enjoy coming to Peace Works is because it helps them learn important lessons they aren’t learning elsewhere,” said Peace Works Coordinator Pam Stahler.

In BR schools, two to five Peace Works students at a time meet in small groups to complete each les- son. The lessons combine reflec- tions, discussions, games, and role plays so students can practice dif- ferent ways of responding to chal- lenging situations and emotions. Sometimes students don’t realize how much they learn during these activities until later in the week when they are confronted with a tricky situation similar to what was practiced in Peace Works and are proud of how they handle it.

One lesson focuses on positive communication and allows students to explore several strategies to help:

  1. identify the specific situations that bother them
  2. clearly state their emotions, and
  3. seek out potential solutions to the problem

A week after practicing this, a student with a history of angry outbursts in class told us that he used his new communication skills to avoid a confrontation with a teacher over a missing assignment. Instead of his usual reaction of yelling or storming out of the classroom, he was able to take some deep breaths, say that he was feeling frustrated, and ask the teacher if they could talk about his options after class when he felt more calm.

Each time a moment like this happens — when students success- fully identify and change their behavior — it puts them a step closer to returning to a regular MPS school. And as these new behaviors and responses turn into habits, you make a much larger impact than simply helping students work through current issues: you provide students with the skills they need to achieve success far into their futures.

All the Peace Works lessons are designed with this long-term view of preparing youth to become contributing members of a more peaceful, just, and empathetic society. Some of the skills youth learn in Peace Works include anger management, active listening, managing stress, dealing with difficult people, conflict resolution,

The goal setting lesson is particularly formative for students as it forces them to think about the future and their future self. This is the lesson that helped Shafiq the most. “It helped me single my goals out because before, I didn’t really think about it,” he said. As Shafiq identified three types of goals — academic, character, and future — he realized that focusing on his interests would be the key to creating his own success.

One of Shafiq’s passions is drawing, and he wants to create animations for commercials, television, and films. During this lesson, he created a plan to make this happen. “My goals are to graduate from [high school] with at least a 3.0 grade point average and to attend a college with an arts program,” Shafiq said, proud to share his goals.

Earlier this semester, Shafiq learned that he was again being reassigned to a new school — this time it was to give him another chance at success in a regular MPS high school. He will carry the skills he learned in Peace Works forward with him as he takes this next step toward fulfilling his goals and dreams.

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Center for Peacemaking

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Exploring the Power of Nonviolence

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