Conflict Resolution

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Your friend tells you a secret in confidence. You don't really mean to, but you tell another friend. Soon, all of your friends seem to know what your friend's secret is. Your friend is really mad at you. Many of your other friends are also upset that you revealed the secret. What do you do? What should you do?

Have you ever seen a small disagreement turn into a big fight? What do you think made that happen?

Today you will be learning about conflict resolution and how to effectively resolve a conflict without getting into a big disagreement.

What is conflict? A conflict can be defined as an argument, battle, or disagreement.

Brainstorm sources of conflict in your life.

Then brainstorm ways to handle conflict (write positive ways in green and negative ways in red).

There are good and bad ways to handle conflict, but conflict doesn't have to be a bad thing. What are some reasons that conflict can be good?

Conflict can:

In order to resolve conflict, people have to be able to talk and listen to each other.

Why do you think this is? Why is it important to talk with each other about your feelings and not keep them inside?

Please watch the TEDxYouth video See, Say, Solve: A Conflict Resolution Program for Kids below:

When there is a conflict, there is a problem.

When trying to resolve conflicts, it helps to have a way to think about the problem and to attempt to solve it.

Before problem-solving begins, the people in the conflict have to agree to really try to work it out, and to not yell or call names. You want to de-escalate the conflict, not escalate it. When trying to resolve a conflict, some people choose to debate the issue, to argue or disagree in a formal setting. Others may choose to take part in a dialogue, to discuss or take part in a conversation. You will learn more about the differences between a debate and dialogue in the next section.

Below are the steps in problem solving: