Solving Conflicts and Problems

Abstract

If you work with children or teenagers in an after-school program, you know that con?icts and problems will arise. The question that remains is how can you best deal with these con?icts and problems and still retain the group-centered cohesive structure that you are trying to develop for your after-school program. I have worked with children and teenagers in group programs for 41 years, and I will be the ?rst to tell you that I do not have all of the answers. I’ve had the privilege of working with children from many different settings. I mostly work with at-risk populations. I’ve worked with children in the projects in Chicago, children from the Bronx, children who have been expelled from the public school system in Tampa, inner-city community and school groups in Ohio and Georgia, Hispanic immigrant populations in Texas, and children from rural poor neighborhoods in South Carolina. No matter where I have traveled and worked, there have always been children in need. When children are in need, there is con?ict. In this chapter, we analyze several different examples and how these examples might relate to your own work. My goal is to help you think about problems before they arise so that you can be prepared and respond in the best way possible.