UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF NONVIOLENCE AND VIOLENCE

The goal of this activity is to establish the difference between Nonviolence and
violence.

Follow these steps to complete this activity:

1. Make a T-chart on a piece of chart paper or on a whiteboard. The two
headings will be NONVIOLENCE and VIOLENCE.
2. Ask students to think about words and phrases that could describe violence.
Write down their responses underneath the heading “VIOLENCE” on the
chart.
3. Repeat Step 2 for NONVIOLENCE.
4. Begin a discussion about violence, using the students’ responses as the basis
for the discussion. Add ideas that might be missing from the list, such as
examples of emotional violence, known as “violence of the spirit” (e.g.
teasing, spreading rumors, lying, excluding, etc.).
5. Next, discuss Nonviolence. Nonviolence is an active way to strategize and
solve conflicts. It involves finding out what your opponent in a conflict
needs or wants, and working on a solution that is satisfactory to everyone
involved.
6. Example chart:

VIOLENCE NONVIOLENCE
use of objects as weapons treating others with kindness
hate, racism caring about all people
hurting people’s feelings standing up for justice
exclusion including others
cyber bullying celebrating differences

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 Nonviolence is often written with a hyphen: non-violence.
In Kingian Nonviolence we refer to non-violence (say:
non-hyphen-violence) as negative peace.
Here is an example of negative peace:
In a school, interactions appear to be peaceful, when in fact, violence exists
in the form of non-reported bullying, exclusion, etc. Non-violence occurs when
people choose to do nothing about violent situations, although to an outsider, the
climate and culture of the school appears to be peaceful.
● Non-violence occurs when people are afraid to stand up for justice.
★ Nonviolence exists when people use courage to solve conflicts without
hurting anyone. Nonviolence is the antidote for violence and non-violence.
★ Nonviolence (a verb) is used to create peace (a noun).
It is important to emphasize the difference between Nonviolence and
non-violence.

Creating a Group Definition of Nonviolence

Post the Nonviolence/Violence chart paper. Explain to students that together

they will be writing a group definition of Nonviolence, based on the information on
the chart paper and the discussion they have had.
Give students time to individually write their own definition of Nonviolence
on a piece of paper, or in Peace Journals. Next, begin writing a group definition by
having volunteers share what they wrote. Students can add or edit what has been
said, until the group agrees on a definition. The definition will probably be several
sentences long.
The following is an example of a definition of Nonviolence, written by 5th
grade students, using the process described above:

Nonviolence means treating people the way you want to be

treated, with respect, kindness, and forgiveness.
Nonviolent people do not hurt anyone’s feelings. Nonviolent
people solve problems with words that will not harm anyone.
Nonviolent people do not touch or hurt anyone in a mean way.
Nonviolence means being considerate and caring of others.