I am serving as a volunteer mentor this winter in a special program called SPAVA that allows me to share non-violent conflict resolution skills with 5th graders at Bates elementary school in Louisville. You can find details about SPAVA (and volunteer for the program) at http://www.spava.us/.
One young student in my class shared an idea with me last week that I found deeply moving and full of creativity well beyond the years of this young person.
I had given my 29 students a take home assignment. I asked them to think of a major problem in the world that they would like to solve and then describe a machine that they would create to address that problem.
Wonderful ideas were shared by these 5th graders about how to eliminate hunger, cure diseases, and provide housing for everyone in the world, but one idea in particular grabbed my attention. It related to anger.
Anger is one of the major problems for students in our public schools. Probably all students feel anger. In fact we tell them it's ok to feel angry. But these fifth graders (like the rest of us) get into trouble when they respond to their anger by acting impulsively, without thinking.
So we teach them how to use a method pioneered by SPAVA called STAR.
In the STAR method students take 4 key steps to solving their problems non-violently these are:
S STOP! Cool down so you don’t do something impulsive that you
may regret later. Take a deep breath and count to 5 or do something else that works for you.
T THINK! What is the real problem? What are your choices? Ask about each choice: Does it respect everyone? Will it work? Pick your best choice.
A ACT! Carry out your best choice.
R REVIEW! Ask yourself, “Did it work? If it did, great! If it didn't, try another choice.
The students hadn't yet learned the STAR method when I gave them the assignment to address a major problem in the world. In spite of that, one young woman came up with an idea that was a perfect reflection of what we hope for through STAR.
She shared with me and members of her class that destructive anger was the problem she wanted to eliminate. She "invented" a machine that would sense your anger and turn it into beautiful music that would soothe you and calm you down. I love that idea. And I wish we had more inventors like my young friend.
And again, here is a link to information about SPAVA. I hope you will become a mentor in this brilliant program.
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