Approaches to Conflict

1) PICK A SIDE: Alex and Juan are both on their school’s soccer team. They also have the same birthday. When they realize that they have both planned parties on the same night, and each invited the whole team, an argument begins At first, Alex and Juan order their teammates to choose between one house party or the other. Eventually, Alex and Juan decide to compromise and combine parties to throw one giant birthday party for both of them at a local arcade. They each have to spend a little more money than they want to, but it is worth it for everyone to be there.

• Avoid

• Accommodate

• Persist

• Compromise

• Collaborate

2) LET'S TACO ABOUT IT: Rita and Kara stood in line at the movies, unable to decide which film to see. Rita wanted to see Dog Mountain, an emotional drama about a group of orphans who adopt all the stray dogs in their small town and raise them together. Kara, however, wanted to see Taco Tuesday, a

slapstick comedy about the unrequited romance between a public-school cafeteria lady and a taco vendor. Rita and Kara debated the decision for a while until eventually Rita agreed to see Taco Tuesday, deciding it was more important to Kara than it was to her.

• Avoid

• Accommodate

• Persist

• Compromise

• Collaborate

3) CHEER CHORE: Five different members of a school’s cheer team are in a conflict over who should be chosen to choreograph a new, original cheer for the homecoming game. The five team members each insist they are the best person to develop the choreography. However, instead of choosing just one member, their coach assigns them all to work together to create a new routine. Working together to collaborate, each member contributes their ideas for the new cheer. Together, the group equally decides which ideas to incorporate into the routine. Once the final ideas are agreed upon, the group takes turns choreographing different sections of the new routine.

• Avoid

• Accommodate

• Persist

• Compromise

• Collaborate

4) BUS RIDE: Ava and Emily were riding the bus home from school. Ava noticed some girls sitting in the seat behind her. The girls, attempted to talk to Ava in ways that made her feel uncomfortable. When one of the girls  reached out her hand in an attempt to touch Ava, her and Emily told them to stop, but they kept talking about Ava. At the next stop Ava and Emily quickly exited the bus, and quickly walked home.

• Avoid

• Accommodate

• Persist

• Compromise

• Collaborate

5) WHEN THE NUMBERS ARE OFF: During the last quarter,  Matt received a ‘D’ in math. Matt was aware that math was not his best subject, but he was certain that his scores added up to a grade higher than a ‘D.’ He began to think his teacher had graded him unfairly based on his teacher’s frustration with Matt, rather than his test scores. After several unanswered emails, Matt met with his teacher after school to discuss the grade. The teacher did not listen to Matt’s concerns. Angered and determined, Matt arranged a meeting with his counselor to discuss the problem. After confirming that Matt’s scores deserved a higher grade, the teacher was forced to change his grade.

• Avoid

• Accommodate

• Persist

• Compromise

• Collaborate