Our New Understanding Conflict for Kids Workshops

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued on into a new school year, making our typical classroom workshops difficult to coordinate, the WDRC Youth Program wanted to find a new way to connect with youth in our community and help them develop their conflict resolution skills. Upon hatching our idea of creating an “Understanding Conflict for Kids” workshop, we piloted our first free, online, open-to-the-public youth workshop in September of 2020. Surprisingly, we had kids and families from all over the country register! With an age range of about 9-12, we were impressed with the youths’ willingness and eagerness to share and participate in our activities. With the first workshop being a success, and receiving positive feedback from participants, we created two additional workshops in November and December, focusing on conflict styles and stress management/communication, respectively. We were able to keep the workshops interactive and entertaining by including several discussion questions, activities that included movement, and allowing time for all of the youth to share – which they really liked to do! The fall sessions were also attended by a good number of youth, many of whom attended with siblings or parents to learn as a family. Participants said:

“My kids really enjoyed it. Very simple and straightforward for them to understand, as well as fun.”

“It provided me with many ideas, including how to cool down when I get upset.”

“I found it very helpful with conflicts”

“it was very educational and well-put together for kids to understand.”

“What I liked about the workshop is that they were very interactive and taught us a lot of strategies on calming down.”

“Fun and easy way for kids to start talking about conflict resolution.”

Now in 2021, we are offering the “UC for Kids” workshop again (aimed at kids 7-12), as well as a new “UC for Teens” option (aimed at teens 13-18). Each workshop consists of 3 45-minute sessions, each with its own focus – participants can choose if they’d like to attend one, two, or all three sessions. Youth can attend on their own, or with family from the same device. For more information and to register, visit our Youth page: whatcomdrc.org/youth