On Wilford & Christopher

…yea it’s the same loss of control displayed in video games, movies, cartoons, local, national, and federal govt, music, social media, every news outlet, and in humans beings in general—my response is to your question “how do we expect to teach conflict resolution to young people…” my answer is as an educator you take everything/anything and you use it to open up dialogue about a real and true phenomenon. you don’t make this scenario as a teachable moment any more or less important than any other, you discuss the issue from its varying perspectives without trying to convert folks to a “side” or belief system. instead you invite them to know and clearly express their own stance. all too often issues are far more nuanced than folks are allowing them to be. to me this issue raises great social questions that we as a society, community, neighborhood, and individuals get to grapple with such as—when, if ever, is physical violence ok? is it ok during self defense? is there a difference between verbal violence and physical? when is either effective? when defending another? when defending self? never? how does one know when they are about to “lose” control? what is respect? what is disrespect? how have you been taught to handle disrespect? by whom? where do you stand on a spectrum of non-violence? why did brother malcolm oppose brother martin’s teaching of non-violence and vice versa? who are other historical and contemporary figures with differing opinions on turning the other cheek who can be referenced? if educators haven’t asked themselves the hard questions about their own philosophical stances and challenged their own biases, there’s no way they can be effective as educators on real topics. this is just a few questions to get the conversation started with self first and then with others.