Ponderosa learns conflict resolution from Oregon Tech students

Students in Stacia Hanson’s eighth-grade social studies class at Ponderosa practice peaceful conflict resolution with a communications student from Oregon Institute of Technology

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Ponderosa Middle School students know why they recently enjoyed a Monday holiday, thanks to a program about Martin Luther King, Jr., led by communication students from Oregon Institute of Technology on Jan. 23.

As he has done for more than a dozen years, Dr. Kevin Brown, professor and director of Communication Studies at Oregon Tech, visited Ponderosa’s eighth-grade social studies classes with five Communications Club students Jan. 23 to teach a communication lesson based on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brown shared facts about King’s life, as well as context on his “I Have a Dream Speech” from the 1963 march on Washington D.C. He showed a video of the speech and asked students to listen for three practices that he believes made King more effective than other civil rights leaders of his time:

First, King spoke for himself and his own wishes rather than speaking for others. Second, he spoke positively of the future rather than punitively about the past. Finally, he addressed listeners’ fears of violence, division and change.

“You can use these three practices when you face conflicts in your daily life,” said Brown after the video. “It will make your life and others’ lives better.”

To illustrate his point, Brown asked students to imagine addressing someone with, “You’re such a . . .” or “You need to . . .”

“That’s probably not going to go too well,” said Brown, noting how such words would make a listener defensive.

Communications Club students then worked with Ponderosa’s students in small groups, asking them to think of a conflict with a family member or friend and to consider how to apply King’s three practices when confronting it.

“What do you know about Martin Luther King?” Brown had asked as a program kick-off. Because of Brown’s annual visit, Ponderosa students know that the forward-looking, non-violent approach King practiced for our nation’s Civil Rights Movement can be a powerful force for their lives, as well.