Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/when-push-comes-to-shove-reconsidering-childrens-conflicts/5008434/
"I've seen disturbing changes in 15 years of working with young children. There are growing numbers of kids who punch and lash out at the slightest provocation. Sometimes I feel more like a police officer than a teacher. I seem to be spending more of my time breaking up fights instead of doing the things I used to do - things that need to be done. I plan the day's activities around the problem children. What will happen to these kids as they get older?"(an early childhood teacher)
Increases in Violent Conflict Resolution
In ten years of studying young children and violence, we have heard concerns like this with increasing frequency. Many adults who work with children are disturbed by the growing levels of aggression that children use with each other when conflicts occur, and about the limited resources many children seem to have for working out their disputes nonviolently.
The results of our recent national survey on teachers' experiences with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) in their classrooms reflect these concerns (Carlsson-Paige and Levin, 1992). Of the 73 teachers from 19 states who responded to our questionnaire, 89% mentioned negative effects of the Turtles on ...