Violence is escalating nationwide. There is a corresponding escalation in aggressive and violent behaviors. Culture inadvertently supports violence through advertising, social relationships, and politics. There is a serious and continual breakdown in the nuclear family and often the job of parenting is left to the nation's educators. A number of schools are developing conflict resolution programs to combat and reduce these problems. The impact of conflict resolution has been positive. Individual schools and school systems in 30 states are using the San Francisco Community Board Program. Students in some of the major cities are learning how to handle problems in a more constructive manner. Educators hope that by initiating mediation in the early grades, there will be less violence when students reach high school. Students are learning ways to handle conflict, thus paving the way for a more successful future for themselves and the nation. It will be necessary for the education system to radically redefine its purpose if change is going to occur. It can no longer serve as merely an institution which provides information, facts, and formulas for growing minds. It must also embrace the notion that it has become an absent parent as well. It has become the training ground and source of ethics and moral preparation for children, and thus must provide strong models and programs for social behavior. (Author/ABL)