Session Summary

Our Youth, Our Promise

Parenting and Educating Peacefully

Carletta Bullock

We discussed extensively both the difficulty ceasing parenting that is shaming and controlling and educating in purely nurturing ways AND how essential these both are to accomplishing a peaceful world. The problems in public education seem insurmountable, but we must continue to try whenever and however we can. We must continue hope and believe that our individual work is synergistic with all those individuals we cannot see or don't know about. A peace curriculum is essential in the schools; the starting with our own healing to empathic ways of living is where to start. We must model the change we want to see. Empathy, empathy, empathy. Empathize with the parents who still hurt their children because they have not learned better. Help the children by allowing them to speak their truth to you no matter what. Even if their homes are violent, help them by hearing their woundedness and offering them an alternative. Reverse the culture of fear one person at a time. Teach life skill courses meaningful to the students - meet them where they are. Films suggested: Pay It Forward. Books suggested: Punished by Rewards. Everyday Heroes.

Best practices or lessons learned from our previous experiences on this topic and our conversation here:

Meaningful life skills courses. Authenticity, shared vulnerability, humility. Plant seeds to parents: other ways of discipline work better than corporal and other punishments. Plant to seeds to teachers: peaceful classrooms actually allows for effective teaching. Plant seeds to administrators: peaceful students get higher test scores.

What we will do following this conference, individually and collectively, to keep our work going:

Check websites and blogs on the subject to not feel isolated, alone, and overwhelmed.