End of Conflict Resolution Program

All things considered, I think our sessions went fairly well. I wasn’t able to go to the first session, which my group said was the most difficult as far as getting the kids’ attention. It might be because of this, but I really didn’t notice the “discipline” problems that Daniel and Gerald mentioned before our project. This could also be attributed to the fact that we worked mostly with the Torch Club (a specific group of kids who were selected because of their behavior and “promise”). Even so, the kids were interactive and pretty interested when we were teaching. Of course, they were talkative and they goofed off, but I expected that.

Despite their good reaction to the actual activities, I honestly don’t know if they got the message of the program. This is mostly because there were different kids at each session. It was hard to have any kind of repeating theme when we couldn’t reference past sessions or ask the kids to recall things they’ve learned. There was also some confusion about what we planned before the sessions and what Daniel wanted out the program. We based the curriculum on “Conflict Resolution” and Daniel wanted us to focus more on “Peer Mediation.” While some of the objectives of the Conflict Resolution program can mold themselves to Peer Mediation, they are two different topics. Before the last session, we tried to change the plans to achieve this goal, but I’m not sure how effective it was.

I think that this program achieved a few goals: we got the kids involved for a half hour in something that was more than their normal recreation activities. However, I’m hoping that the kids gleaned something that was more meaningful as well. I honestly don’t expect the kids to do much peer mediation, and I really don’t even expect them to share with others what they’ve learned. If they just remember the skills we taught them enough to personally use them, then I’ll be happy.

I think that the most valuable parts of this experience were the things we learned about volunteering and working with kids in general. I hope that, by coming to the club several times, the kids at least understood that we were interested in interacting with them. I also think that we learned some things about the need for effective communication. If anything, I think this taught us that we can’t assume or take for granted the fact that someone has time to organize events outside of their actual job.