Helping Teens Stop Violence: A Practical Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents

Rating:
Summary: Makes Sense
Review: Any ideas supporting an end to the cycle of violence and discrimination in our teen population developed by these authors is a guarantee of a resource that is valuable and effective. The activities, excercises and information presented in this book seek to encourage teachers, parents and counselors of teens and the teens themselves to look into their own experiences and enlighten and expose their own potentially violent and discriminative attitudes. By acknowledging, exploring and identifying their own biases each person becomes a critical thinker capable of reading between the lines of human behavior and political propaganda. The authors explain the cycle of violence as beginning with the oppression and discrimination of people based on race, religion, gender, class, etc. The frustration and hopelessness felt by the oppressed manifests itself in the form of a violent act on the individual him or herself or on another person. By using this perspective the authors demonstrate the importance of not trying to stop violent behavior by encouraging teens to simply act in ways that others deem proper and simultaneously deny and repress true thoughts and feelings. As an educator I strongly recommend this book for you and your students and/or children.