Return to Violence Prevention Page | Teacher's Workshop Home

Mrs. Kimmie Tomlinson developed the "Kimmie's Kids" program at Lake City High School. Subsequently, Educational Television (ETV) in South Carolina identified this as a model safe schools program. ETV provided this featured tape segment for today's telecast, and we gratefully acknowledge that contribution.

Questions for Thought:

1. Can students effect positive change?

2. How can the latent leadership ability of students be brought out?

I. Origins of "Kimmie's Kids"

1. The Homecoming Fight
2. The Kimmie's Kids approach
   1. Seeking "Silent Leaders"
   2. The "Lock-In for Non-Violence"
   3. Post Lock-In activities

II. A Lock-In of Student Leaders

1. Theories and Practices
   1. Negative attitudes left outside
   2. Honesty and sharing
2. What Students Learned
   1. Everyone has problems
   2. Students can take responsibility
3. Lock-In Activities
   1. Role-play skits model conflict resolution
   2. "Full Pot" builds self-esteem
   3. Personal stories of violence in families

III. Beyond the Lock-In

1. A non-violence club
2. The club assembly
3. The student body is challenged to practice non-violence

Kimmie's Kids Workshop Guidelines

1. Identify the "Silent Leaders" in your school. Use principals, teachers, student government, and your own observation to help in preparing a list. Include students from all social groups. Seek out the most dominant figures from each group.

2. Invite these peer leaders to participate in a "Lock-In" to discuss relationships, problem-solving, and non-violence. Provide a contract agreement, which students sign to elicit positive participation.

3. Your meeting place should be isolated from all distractions. Supply meals, restroom arrangements, and "ice-breaking" items such as name tags.

4. Set the ground rules for this "student conference":

1. All students must leave negative attitudes, pretensions, and "false fronts" outside.
   
2. Encourage honesty by assuring students that all their opinions will be heard and valued. No one will be allowed to attack or ridicule their ideas. Negative personal comments should be banned.

5. A suggestion for "breaking the ice": Have students pair off. Let them spend five minutes getting to know each other, then have each participant formally introduce their partner to the group. (30 minutes)

6. Other small group activities:

1. Encourage individuals to share personal stories of past mistakes, fears, hopes. This helps them to see everyone as a person and open up more. (30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours)
   
2. Ask questions that allow students to look into each other's hearts and minds. Encourage frank discussion of problems that need to be addressed, breaking the tension occasionally with humor. Give each person plenty of time to respond. (1 1/2 hours)
   
3. Discussion topics: (You select the topics) Include topics that are not often talked about openly. Start with low-threat questions, advancing to more high-threat questions. Everyone should answer, because the "quiet ones" may hold back.
   1. Relationships
      1. between classmates (freshmen/sophomores, etc.)
      2. between boys and girls
      3. between teens and parents
      4. Race relations
   2. Common problems
      1. peer pressure
      2. drugs and alcohol
      3. Violence: in society, home, and school
4. "Full Pot": Each student prepares slips of paper, containing a compliment or positive statement about a classmate, which are dropped into a "pot." Having these slips read aloud gives participants a boost in self-esteem and helps the necessary "bonding" process begin. (15-30 minutes)

7. Point out problems that violence creates in all areas of their lives, then ask them to come up with possible solutions to violence. This type of discussion is an important part of the Lock-In, and helps students get their problems out in the open, disposes of negative feelings, and allows a consensus on solutions to form. (1 hour)

8. Form students into diverse groups and have them devise role-play skits to dramatize non-violent conflict resolution. (1 hour)

1. Brainstorm a list of problems and potential crises the average high school student might encounter in a day at school. Each group chooses a problem. (15 minutes) >
   
2. Each group must come up with a basic script outline. For convenience, skits can be performed improvisational style, making actual scripted lines unnecessary. (30 minutes)

9. Have students perform each skit (skits should be no more than five to eight minutes in length) before the whole group. Have students critique and discuss the substance of each performance. Encourage them to analyze the skits in terms of clarity and effectiveness. Have students express what was good about the skit. This is a day of praise. Every skit is valued. (1-2 hours, depending on group size)

10. At the conclusion of the session, suggest the formation of an exclusive club which encourages non-violence. The lock-in students will become Charter Members of this club. Their goal would be to "adopt" as many classmates as possible into the club, exacting from each new member a pledge of non-violence in their solutions to problems as a condition of membership. Then have the Charter Members write the Club Pledge together.

11. Arrange for performances of selected role-play skits for peer groups during Club Days or School Assemblies. Audience members interested in joining could be "adopted" into the school chapter of Kimmie's Kids.

Contact:

Kimmie Tomlinson
Carolina Forest Education Center
700 Gardner Lacy Road
Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
803-236-7997, X2208

For more information Teacher's Workshop 3651 Mars Hill Road Suite 200A Watkinsville, GA 30677 Call: 1-800-991-1114 Fax: 770-725-9177 Email us at: rbender@teachersworkshop.com