Is it possible a creative practice of peace-making and non-violence through the teaching: art of reconciliation

If we are truly concerned about the development of all youth, we must examine our understanding of conflict and offer our children better solutions to it. The idea of teaching conflict resolution skills to youth is vitally important. Yet it is almost entirely overlooked. There is a tremendous amount of violence in our world, as anyone can see - on television, in films, newspapers and magazines - and it is all too often portrayed as a heroic cultural ideal, depicting fighting as the honorable solution to conflict. Violence is epidemic. It touches every life. Our children live in a world of constant violence, perhaps the most violent time in the history of mankind. According to recent statistics, a violent crime occurs every 25 seconds. It seems to me that what we need to do first is see that Martial Arts Instructors, teachers, and counselors can help deal with the problem of violence, especially when it comes to our children. The myth that only the "authorities" can deal with this issue is our biggest block to taking action ourselves. The second thing we need to do is to teach ourselves and young people the necessary skills to resolve conflict peacefully. In order to learn these skills, we need to understand what causes our conflicts and how we can fundamentally deal with them. If we are truly concerned for our children's welfare and well-being, we must take the issue of understanding conflict seriously.