School Takes Aim at Social Barriers
To break down racial, cultural and socioeconomic barriers, a Sherman Oaks school launched its PeaceBuilders program Monday to help students appreciate the ways they are the same and to value their special differences.
At an Dixie Canyon School assembly, students honored their commitment to be kind to their peers, teachers, family and neighbors through songs, dances, poems, skits and cheers.
“Before the PeaceBuilders program began, the kids used racial slurs, curse words and fistfights to deal with problems,†said Principal Melanie Deutsch.
“These little kids go home and tell their older siblings and their parents that they are not being PeaceBuilders and, in their innocence, they are very effective,†said Gloria Victor Gold of the Halcyon Center, a nonprofit counseling and education organization that introduced the program at the school.
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