Intervention Ideas to Resolve Conflict

Krogh and Slentz (2001) suggest the following intervention ideas for helping young children resolve conflict:

• Divert the attention of each involved child to another activity of interest
• Offer hugs and attention all around
• Remove one or more children from the area
• Remove the controversial toys or materials from the area
• Sing or play music as a diversion and peacemaker

As children grow, their language ability and ability to reason also grows. As these skills develop, they become more capable of learning various conflict resolution techniques. When you want to help children de-escalate conflict, consider the following four points (adapted from Kreidler, 1984):

1. Who is involved?How many children are fighting? How mature, or capable of reasoning, are they? How angry is everyone?
2. Is the time right?Is there time enough to deal with this, or would it be better to do it later? Are children still too angry to talk?
3. What de-escalating technique would be most appropriate?What is the real problem here? Have these particular children used this technique before? Do I need to help them learn the technique?
4. Should the resolution be public or private?Is this situation one that would be embarrassing or humiliating if other children witnessed the de-escalation time? Could other children in the class help in the resolution?