Preventing Youth Violence

Integrating a Nonviolence Paradigm into the School System

Jun 4, 2009

A more peaceful future can be acheived through patience by teaching youth to deal with conflict in nonviolent ways.

North American youth violence has not increased over the last century, despite media claims, but violence in Toronto has. On June 15, 2000 the Canada Supreme Court dealt with the homicide problem by banning guns. By December 2005, there were 78 homicides reported in Toronto for that year, including 52 committed with a gun (Lindsey, 2005). The problem of youth violence, however, is not the weapon, but the person who uses it.

The Real Issue of Youth Violence and Crime in Toronto

Conflict is a normal and natural occurrence, but many youth lack the knowledge to deal with it properly. Rebecca Dube (2006) recognized that Toronto homicides doubled in the past year and saw gang violence as a threat to society. The author notes that police identified 73 gangs operating in Toronto. Dube blames gangs for tragic newspaper headlines like “4 year old wounded in a Drive by Shooting”.

Youth may only be responsible for 21% of all crime, but youth turn into adults (Bell, 2007). Thus, society needs to focus on the root of the problem, which is how children are being taught conflict management. Perhaps, using the nonviolence paradigm and other peace and conflict strategies as a basic principle in the school curriculum would create a more hopeful future that promotes positive peace.

The Nonviolence Paradigm and its Powerful Methods

Based on peace and conflict studies, Fisk and Schellenberg (2000) discuss positive peace as the absence of structural violence, which is the term used for indirect violence cause by social systems. The nonviolence paradigm suggests starting at the root of the problem in preventing violent action, and the root of society is children. The best way to live a nonviolent life, of course, is to learn how.

The nonviolence paradigm promotes nonviolence as a power, and suggests that people have been conditioned to relate power and violence. This is apparent in the images one may see when thinking of power such as: a gun, money, or a hammer. Thus, people could be conditioned to develop a more peaceful vision of power. Some nonviolent methods include: protesting, non cooperation, and intervention.

In Alabama, 1995, a young black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white person. This was a small step in the success of equal rights for African Americans. Though the process may have been long, many other struggles like: women’s suffrage, labour movements, and civil rights were accomplished through nonviolent action.

Proof that Education is the Answer to Preventing Violence

Behaviorism is a branch of psychology based on principles developed by B.F Skinner and is one of the most widely used explanations for crime and delinquency (Bell, 2007). Basically, the theory claims that behavior is conditioned by rewards and punishments. however, this theory lacks key issues like the role of observed learning.

Observed learning is a theory that youth learn from what they see on television, at school, and in the family. Thus, a child who grows up watching their parents form a cycle of escalating abuse, will probably deal with conflict the same way. Furthermore, a youth who is sent to jail for crime is surrounded by harder criminals who may encourage even harsher forms of violence.

Overall, gun violence is not going to be solved by banning guns, or placing youth in jail. Guns will be found and jail will provide them with criminal mentors (Bell, 2007). Youth violence will diminish when the minds of youth have been enlightened to rely on more positive ways of dealing with conflict. Furthermore, the education needs to focus on positive reinforcement. A simple change to focus on peace in history class, instead of war, as if war is the only important thing to happen in history.

Bell, S. J. (2007). Young Offenders and Youth Justice: A Century after the Fact. Toronto,

Dube, R. (2006). Toronto Struggles with Rising Gun Violence. USA Today [Electronic

Fisk, L., Schellenberg, J.(2000). Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace. Toronto, ON:

Lindsey, Hal. 2009. Gun Violence in Toronto: It’s Americas Fault. December 29, 2005.

The copyright of the article Preventing Youth Violence in Peace Making is owned by Lane Luft. Permission to republish Preventing Youth Violence in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.