This paper outlines a curriculum for young children that emphasizes conflict resolution and social development. It discusses the causes of violent behavior among children and describes activities and recommends children's literature on conflict resolution that can be used in the classroom. Several activities are examined, including role-playing…

Many children with and without disabilities fail to develop the requisite social skills necessary to obtain a level of social competence that facilitates positive peer interactions and relationships. This study was designed to test a combination of training and generalization techniques to promote independent social interactions for children with…

Service learning has been shown to enhance elementary, secondary, and undergraduate college students' intellectual and prosocial behavior, cognitive learning, socialization, citizenship, self-esteem, mentoring ability, attitudes toward diverse communities, and job placement and development. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the…

This study examined care-based moral reasoning in 23 white females and 23 white males, ages 11 through 12 years in a small Canadian eastcoast town. Subjects were administered the Ethic of Care Interview (ECI), a measure administered in a structured interview format consisting of four dilemmas. In addition to three standardized, interpersonal…

Boundary breakers, the modern term for "icebreakers," tear down barriers that sometimes form within student groups and organizations, and offer a low-risk way for group members to become better acquainted. This document is a "hands on" booklet that covers such boundary-breaking activities as "Send a Letter,""The Lap Game,""One-Minute Interview,"…

A study investigated students values to determine the regard in which today's students hold money and material possessions. Questionnaires, eliciting responses to 10 topics organized by a weighted scale, were administered to 150 students in two sections of a class in principles of public relations. Results revealed that money had minimal…

This study investigated the ability of high-functioning verbal individuals with autism or Down syndrome (DS) to respond appropriately to conversational "social scripts" involving reactions to another person's distress. Subjects were 13 persons with autism and 13 with DS, aged 5-27, matched on verbal mental age. During a "tea…

Teachers' ratings are often used as early as the preschool period to provide an overall picture of children's behavioral adjustment and social competence. The goals of this study are to (1) show the relations among general, outcome-oriented observational categories of preschoolers' social competence and (2) specify those discrete emotions and…

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate a microcounseling technique, microtechnology, with regard to its effects on three measures of cooperation in young children. A 3x3x2 factorial analysis of covariance was carried out on two of the three measures, with three grade levels, three levels of teacher involvement with microtechnology, and…

In order to promote peace in our personal lives and in our world it is necessary for teachers to espouse peace education throughout the process and content of their educational systems. Peace education refers to a non-authoritarian educational process that is compatible with peace and avoids all structural violence, not just education about peace.…

Parents and teachers can help children learn qualities (such as empathy, caring, kindness, and generosity) that contribute to a more peaceful environment. Children can be helped to learn the values and techniques of resolving conflicts without injuring others. We should be concerned about teaching peacemaking in order to prevent crime, drug…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the preschool teacher in dealing effectively with aggression in the classroom setting. First, assertiveness, aggression and hostility are differentiated and theories of aggression are reviewed. Subsequently, social, home, family, and temperamental factors influencing aggressive behavior of…

In this action research study, research findings related to developing children's prosocial behavior were discussed at a seminar with parent/teachers in a cooperative nursery school to determine if post-seminar parent/teacher intervention would lead to increased prosocial behaviors in the children. Forty-seven children in the nursery school were…

This paper describes research which involved (1) the study of children's moral reasoning about their own spontaneous prosocial behavior and (2) an examination of the early development of such reasoning. Prosocial moral reasoning is defined as reasoning about conflicts in which the individual must choose between satisfying his or her own wants,…

This paper identifies limitations of previous investigations of the relation between televised violence and viewer aggression and suggests a framework for future research concerning the effects of media viewing on child development. It is suggested that typical research is short-term, cross-sectional, and laboratory-based. Factors which mediate…