Conflict resolution is one of the most important skills a child can learn. Learning how to deal with conflict is a core skill that your students need now, and will use throughout their lives. For kids, these are tough everyday problems that never go away — problems they must learn to handle in order to protect themselves and learn lifelong conflict resolution skills.
The BeCool program addresses four classes of difficult behaviors that can be expressed by others: Criticism, Teasing, Bullying, Anger/others and Anger/Self. In each of the video scenarios a character is challenged by a difficult person who, in some way, is trying to intimidate or manipulate him/her. After a moment of hesitation, the character models three different ways to respond; blowing up or HOT, giving up or COLD and being in control or COOL. The negative consequences of the “giving up response” and the “blowing up response” are then contrasted against the positive outcomes of the “being in control response.”
Created expressly for learners functioning at the Upper Elementary Level, this 5-module program is the second in the BeCool series and continues to use real life, everyday situations to model the effective use of assertive strategies, as well as the ineffective use of passive and aggressive styles in coping with difficult feelings and difficult people. Being in charge of your feelings (and not vice versa) is essential to emotional and social health. Your students will learn that although they are feeling afraid, angry, or sad they don’t have to blow up or fall apart. They can stay in control of their feelings and act in their own best interests. They also will learn that being in control of their behavior is self-rewarding and builds self-esteem, even in the face of disappointment. BeCool teaches kids how to reflectively think through the consequences of their behavior BEFORE they act. They learn to enter a cool state of consciousness (symbolized by sunglasses) and to evaluate the consequences of behaving in a passive, aggressive, or assertive manner. The emotional self-control learned in this process will help your students as they move throughout elementary school and prepare for middle and high school.
BeCool is much more than a violence prevention program. It teaches self control in managing conflicts in everyday situations such as sharing, keeping promises, peer pressure and handling frustration. With over 20 specific assertive techniques to cope with conflict, the BeCool program helps students manage some of the most common and difficult interpersonal problems faced by young children and adolescents. Being the brunt of teasing, bullying, anger, and criticism can produce tremendous stress, serious behavior problems, and destruction of self-esteem. Using the self-defense coping strategies presented in this program, your students will learn how to minimize the destructive effects of these behaviors, as well as promote positive interpersonal interactions. When confronted by difficult people or difficult situations, they’ll know that the best defense is to BeCool.
The powerful tool of peer Video Modeling has proven enormously effective in reaching all levels of students, from the behaviorally challenged to those who simply face everyday tensions at home, in the classroom and on the playground.
The BeCool Paradigm is research based and truly works. Conflict management is a skill your students must understand.
