Students explore dispute resolution methods

CAROL MATROO

YOUNG people today, many of them students, are bombarded by everyday issues and are compelled to try and treat with them, most of the time on their own.

On Monday, form three and four students of the El Dorado East Secondary School showed they were capable of problem resolution by thinking their way around it.

Executive director of the Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) and TT’s representative to the Commonwealth Network of Women mediators Elizabeth Solomon hosted a Commonwealth Day event at the school where students interacted with each other when there were conflicting issues.

Solomon said yesterday’s exercise was to focus on young people and give the world an opportunity to identify that there was a family of 53 nations that belonged to the Commonwealth.

The initiative was undertaken with the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs and the DRC to celebrate the day, which is observed every year on the second Monday in March.

“This is a family, because we come out of a similar colonial history,” Solomon said. “They all bind together because they all speak a common language. This was an opportunity to come and talk to the young people about conflict prevention, to strengthen their knowledge about how to deal with conflict situations, to empower them so that they have the power within themselves to deal with the situation without getting involved in violence.”

The students were very enthusiastic as they engaged in exercises where they were presented with conflict situations and very proudly gave impressive solutions.

“We also discussed bullying, and I really want to compliment the young people, because they were told about the complexities and scenarios and found a way to compromise.

“It was heartening to me to see how much they were willing to get over some of their issues, their knee-jerk reaction as to how to deal with conflict situations, and they very quickly grasped the techniques of how, at an individual level, they could avoid conflict.They learned for themselves the tools it would take to deal with their situations,” Solomon said.