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Conflict is inevitable, violence is not

Sunday, April 22 at 12:01 AM

This Speakout has not been edited

By Ron Ludwig, Executive Director, The Conflict Center

The Conflict Center offers deep, heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, classmates, students, and colleagues of the victims of Monday's shooting on the Virginia Tech campus. Our wish is that the Virginia Tech community, while remembering the victims, will recover, heal, and find community and comfort in the words and arms of both friends and strangers.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, President Bush told the nation, "Schools should be places of sanctuary and safety and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community." This violation of what we consider so sacred leads us to reflect on the pervasiveness of violence in our society.

In the coming weeks, newspapers will run feature stories about survivors, TV news will dissect the motives of the gunman, and some investigative reporter will trace how the gunman easily obtained the firearm used in the killing. Ultimately, this interpretation by the media might only stand to remind us how unsafe we are.

Instead of trying to explain this type of event in terms of fear, we need to start using these moments to explore how we can prevent violence in our communities. Peacemaking is a proactive process that requires us to move beyond fear and engage in difficult discussions and in the challenging process of identifying and managing emotions.

At The Conflict Center, we believe that "conflict is inevitable, violence is not." Therefore, our goal is not to prevent conflict from occurring but to teach individuals skills to deal with conflict in healthy, non-violent ways. We hope, at the very least, that yesterday's tragic shooting stands as a reminder to everyone that positive anger and conflict management skills are not to be downplayed, and that families, schools, and communities might find increased value in teaching practical skills and encouraging programs that prevent violence. The Conflict Center is available to provide these programs for youth, adolescents, and adults of all ages.

The Conflict Center, located at 4140 Tejon Street in Denver, is a non-profit organization that promotes non-violent conflict resolution by providing classes and programs that teach healthy anger and conflict management skills. Our mission is to reduce levels of physical, verbal and emotional violence. We teach skills to a broad constituency of people to handle everyday conflicts nonviolently with win-win outcomes. We offer both on- and off-site classes and programs. Please contact us at 303-433-4983 for more information.

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