Teaching Children Nonviolence

1 ae : TPS FTE aye a & * rT. AT: o/ ~ = ~ 7ORE 2 Rae M VE. BMfeet ei 3 Teaching Children Nonviolence (NAPSA)—You catch your child coloring the walls and demand he gives you the crayons. He says “no” and continues coloring. You are angry. What do you do? Your response may be more important than you think. Young children learn by watching and imitating. Teaching your child to avoid violence—by avoiding it yourself—can increase his or her chances for a safe and productive future. That’s the message of a new campaign called Adults and Children Together (ACT) Against Violence. The initiative focuses on adults who care for young children up to 8 yearsold. It is designed to prevent violence by providing children with positive role models and environments that teach nonviolent problem solving. The program’s Web site (www.ACTagainstviolence.org), was designed to be an easy-to-use resource for teachers, parents and caregivers. It includes a wealth of information on age-appropriate discipline as well as strategies to teach nonviolenceto children. ACT Against Violence also offers a pamphlet called Violence Prevention for Families of Young Children. It offers the following tips on handling anger: Anger is a normalfeeling that can be helpful, because it signals Ow AC against violence, The Best Role Model—Experts say the best way to teach children nonviolence is for parents to solve problems without violence. that change is needed. But anger can also get out of control. It is hard for very young children to understand and managetheir own anger. As a young child grows, teach theseprinciples: * It’s okay to be angry. There are “okay” ways and “not okay” ways to show your anger. It’s not okay to hurt anyone, to break things, or to hurt pets when youare angry. It’s okay to tell someone you're angry. There are waysto calm yourself when you're angry. For more information visit www.ACTagainstviolence.org.