This column explores bullying from the viewpoints of the bully and the victim. It recommends an approach that goes beyond immediate follow-up to a broad-based effort that includes holding class meetings, building an encouraging classroom, and modeling inclusive group spirit. The authors cite research and illustrate their view through vignettes.…

Gossiping staff in early childhood programs models destructive behavior and harms families' trust in the professionalism of the program. Bruno identifies some of the causes and motives for gossip and examines its occurrence in early care and education settings. She offers step-by-step strategies to help supervisors set and enact policies that…

Guiding children in finding social acceptance is on of the most important parts of the early childhood teacher's job. Opening the column with an anecdote from a pre-K teacher, Gartrell discusses what teachers can do when children cause conflicts on purpose and how teachers might prevent such conflicts.

Children with only months of life experience and brain development are just beginning to learn social problem solving. No wonder young children frequently make mistakes! Teachers tend to complain about tattling more than any other behavior. To many teachers, tattling is irksome, but there is more to this behavior than meets the eye. In this…

Describes a strategy whereby kindergarten children recorded acts of kindness on slips of paper and put the slips into a "Kindness Jar." Found that children used slips of paper recording the acts as tokens of appreciation for their friends, to recognize instances of conflict resolution, to report on collaboration, and to emphasize teamwork. (KB)

For may early childhood teachers, angry voices of children are heard all too often. When children focus on protecting themselves and surviving conflicts, they miss out on the joys and opportunities the early childhood program has to offer. Without the ability to solve problems in their interactions with others, children are not able to peacefully…

Notes innovation and creativity as an alternative to violent response to anger or frustration. Discusses prerequisites for success of social problem approach to conflict resolution and presents six specific steps to this approach and its benefits for both teacher and children. (HTH)

Describes a kindergarten teacher's successful efforts to create more heterogeneous groupings and less animosity among students in her class. Discusses efforts to encourage after-school visiting among peers, classroom agreements about put-downs and exclusion during play, turn-taking, teacher-assigned grouping, conflict management, efforts to…

Discusses and illustrates the ways in which early childhood teachers can teach preschoolers about peace. Teachers can implement two simple rules: "Don't hurt anyone," and "Use words to settle problems." Explains how these rules would be implemented in particular preschool situations. (BB)

Suggests looking at group dynamics when managing conflicts between children in the classroom. Uses an example from the classroom to demonstrate how teachers can facilitate safe and fair conflict management, increase cooperative behavior, and, as a result, contribute to children's self-esteem. Discusses careful observation in the classroom,…