Why Nonviolence Education and Nonviolent Communication are critical to counter growing Violence amongst Young People?

The recent killing of 19 children and two teachers in the USA (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-respond-active-shooter-texas-elementary-school-rcna30339) by an 18-year old teenager is a stark reminder of how the intensity of violence and urge to act violently is overwhelming young mind. In the USA alone there have been 27 school shootings in the US in 2022, with over 140 dead. (https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/massshooting-in-27-schools-reported-in-us-in-2022-list-of-us-mass-shootings-this-year-101653451714009.html)

It is not just in the USA. If we see worldwide the phenomenon of young people resorting to violence, expressing intolerance, and taking extreme steps seems to be on the rise. The inability of young people to constructively manage conflicts and mental health issues is taking cancerous proportions. The rising incidence of hate crimes and hate narratives is a matter of concern globally. It is a serious problem. The more hate there is, the more it will express itself in whatever form. Also, Hannah Arendt talking about violence said ‘the practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is to a more violent world’.

So, what can be strategies to counter this climate of violence and acts of violence by young people? I strongly believe that violence is a learned behavior. We learn it through our environment- whether it is the media, the happenings in the society around us or through extreme situations that we might find ourselves. If violence is a learned behavior, one of the strategies to counter it could be to impart nonviolence education and nurturing of nonviolent communication.

Nonviolence education to my mind would mean how we can unlearn our aggressive, competitive, and violent behavior which probably has been superimposed upon us through the environment around us. Young people right from their childhood need to be imparted nonviolence education which will help young people condition their minds towards prosocial behavior. Nonviolence education can be transformational in nature and is a powerful method of challenging violence without resorting to violence.

As the fundamental principle of nonviolence is a refusal to kill and preservation of life with dignity, humanization of humanity, and refraining from causing suffering to others, nonviolence education can help condition the minds of young people in these directions.

Another critical education that needs to be introduced right from a young age is the inculcation of principles and elements of nonviolent communication. Nonviolent communication helps in instilling altruistic tendencies like compassion, kindness, gratitude, and empathy amongst young people. It helps in the humanization of our communication process which is much needed in today’s scenario of toxic communication. It also helps us to regulate our anger and violence in our communication and action.

It is in this backdrop, that it becomes critical that worldwide an effort should be made to promote and encourage nonviolence education and nonviolent communication among young people.