Bullying is a significant issue that requires comprehensive training and support. Alive Community Outreach offers a peace movement initiative locally that teaches students to tackle the problem through peace, instead of violence.
In a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 100% of student participants reported experiencing, witnessing, or being aware of acts of bullying during the 2021-2022 school year.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 34% of teens ages 12-17 reported being bullied in the past 12 months, with different frequencies ranging from 1-2 times to almost every day.
Here WBOI’s Julia Meek and organization co-founder, Marie Mante discuss the Kingian Method of Nonviolence used in the program, its long-and short-term success and the impact it making on the entire community.
Connect with the organization and learn more about the Peacemaker Academy initiative at the Alive Community Outreach website.
Julia Meek: Marie Mante, welcome.
Marie Mante: Hi.
Julia Meek: Now you and yours have been making progress on violence and abuse problems these past five years through your Peacemaker Academy work in the Fort Wayne Community School system.
What's the key element of your Kingian method of nonviolence approach? What does that cover?
Marie Mante: Our method is through teaching Dr King's six principles of nonviolence. That covers the true definition of what nonviolence means.
It's an active force in dealing with conflict. It's not a passive or absent approach, but it's a positive action towards dealing with a conflict.
Julia Meek: So back at the Peacemaker Academy, "attack forces of evil, not the person doing evil." That's a big point of all of your ministries. How hard is that to teach, to learn to master, that one thing?
Marie Mante: Right? It is. It's very difficult, because just our human nature, when we see violence or injustice, we automatically see the person doing that.
And it takes a certain mental training to separate that person from their actions and really understanding that that person has a backstory, has a reason, a deeper reason.
They, the more violent a person is, the more violence they've experienced in their life. So being able to understand that, it takes training.
Julia Meek: And a lot of faith and a lot of hope. It also puts the burden of understanding on the person that has perhaps, I may use the term, just been victimized by some sort of negative behavior or bullying, a power dynamic, as you like to bring up.
That's kind of the base of all of it. So, how can you make it right at that point? Maybe it's the spark of the point of it all happening,
Marie Mante: Yeah. How do we make it right? It's, I think it's teaching that justice is not always immediate, that it is through understanding the injustice that's really--we teach, we teach two different forms of nonviolence, one that is getting to the root of the problem, and one that just puts a band aid on it.
So if you really want to get to the root of something, it's going to take time, but you're right. It takes a certain level of patience and maturity, but to see that, otherwise, it's going to reoccur.
If you don't get to really the root of the issue of the problem, it's going to creep back up again. So really, a lot of what we teach is, how do you make space? You know, making space to unpack, really, what's going on?
Julia Meek: Okay, that big bad act of bullying itself, what we're talking about, it's hard to be patient for anybody of any age. How do kids learn to handle it? And it is with your help. How do you know the help to give to help them handle it?
Marie Mante: Right? Yeah, what we teach is always find a trusted adult or a trusted person that you can share what you're going through with. The more we keep it inside, the more turmoil, the destruction that it has is when we keep it inside and we don't share.
So, finding that trusted person, individual. And then in the high schools, we have peace advocates. We have trained peacemakers, so somebody that you can trust to share this with that will ultimately be the avenue where they find their hope and their healing. That's a start.
Julia Meek: A big, important start and changing habits, [chuckles] never easy, but it is possible. Looking at this generationally Marie, how difficult is it to break that cycle of violence that's kind of there at the root and the inability to deal with it, of course, how many generations are necessary to turn it around?
Marie Mante: Yeah, that's a good question. It's a difficult one to answer, but I would say what we are seeing with our academy students is that change is immediate.
Once they learn the tools of nonviolence, they are utilizing those tools. They're bringing them home to their families and teaching their brothers and their sisters and their moms and their uncles and their cousins.
I mean, they are immediately practicing that. And I think that that impact is immediate. We even have some Peacemaker students saying, I'm going to be teaching this to my kids when I have kids.
And so it's that long term vision of now I see things differently, and I'm going to use those and I'm going to let this permeate through the rest of my life.
Julia Meek: And the power of the young one can be taken home and implemented, even in a home that's maybe a little less enlightened?
Marie Mante: Yeah, we work with high school students. Our high school youth also teaches our middle school youth. And with that, we teach the change starts with you. It starts internally with you.
In order to see the change in the world, you need to be that change. In order to see the peace, you need to be that peace. And so that's the beginning stages of what we teach. If you want to change your family dynamics, them, seeing a change within you first speaks volumes.
And so it's difficult, because maybe some students don't have a role model at home that is leading the charge, but in many of our cases, the students themselves are the role model in their families.
And we will even have parents come to us and say, I'm learning from my child. We had one mom specifically say that, I can't believe how much he has changed, and I'm inspired through him. When are you going to make an academy for the parents? [both laugh]
We've have been recently asked and hey, we're working it out. We're gonna get there. [both chuckle]
Julia Meek: That has to make your heart sing, something like that!
Marie Mante: Absolutely, absolutely!
Julia Meek: And know that you should be doing what you're doing and that it's working.
Marie Mante: Absolutely.
Julia Meek: Now with your own success in the Peacemaker Academy program, it's getting noticed nationwide, and you, Marie, are helping this grow and become something wonderful. What are the key points within your Kingian philosophy that contribute to the success the most?
Marie Mante: I think the key points are not shying away from conflict. Conflict is going to happen. It's how you approach it, how you deal with it, which determines whether it will be peaceful or not.
So to say we want a world or a society with zero problems, zero conflict is not the approach. It's, t's okay we have a conflict we're presented with, because every day we're going to have that.
How do we maximize? How do we take this opportunity and lean into it to really show that this is okay and there can be a better way from this?
Julia Meek: Do you ever feel like you are reversing things? Yes, it might be what the adult would be trying to get across to the student.
And here you have these pretty knowledgeable and really savvy students stepping up to the plate, and they're the ones that are taking the ball out of your hands, so to speak, and then running with it.
Marie Mante: Yeah. Isn't that the goal of every adult? I mean, really is any teacher, any educator, ultimately wants that student to take the initiative in their learning.
And so I think, yeah, if we already have that happening, and that was the basis of when we started, we said, this is a student-led movement. This needs to be a student-led movement through and through in order for it to be impactful.
Students are going to listen to each other. And so as much as we can, having students that have come through our program be the leaders and the teachers for the next training that we hold is our ultimate hope.
And that's the power of this whole thing.
Julia Meek: And you are setting it up to happen, if it's going to happen, that is it.
Marie Mante: Absolutely.
Julia Meek: Now, sometimes it is hard to get high school kids seemingly excited about anything, Marie. [chuckles] How do you recruit your Academy hopefuls, get your teams together and then keep them energized on this task?
Marie Mante: That's such a great question. Our recruitment process is pretty rigorous, actually, for a summer program. We have an application process that opens. They have to include references. They get interviewed.
But we also ask other students, how is this individual? Like, how are they really with dealing with conflict? [chuckles] Tell us the scoop on it. We get our former peacemakers involved in the interview process and the selection process.
But once we have solidified a group to keep that energy going. It's really just, when they come up against a problem in the school, is sayingall right, let's get creative. Let's get creative on how to tackle this problem.
For instance, we had a problem with bathrooms being trashed. And a couple of peacemakers, said like, I love painting. What if we make like little trash cans and make it, kind of beautify the space, but then also providing a place to throw the trash. At the time they didn't have trashcans.
And then also seeing the students themselves seeing the responses from other students, seeing, you know, them, being lifted up and praised as peacemakers. I mean, that plays into all this too.
And seeing the staff empower the students is a big part of it. So the excitement is seeing change, you know, that's inspiring to these young people.
Julia Meek: And the momentum sounds like it's built right in there, once they're on that trajectory, it's like "woooosh."
Marie Mante: Yeah, initially they might start for the stipend that they earn, but then seeing the intrinsic takes over, and seeing, I'm actually making a difference in this community.
Julia Meek: And that stays with them.
Marie Mante: Absolutely, beyond.
Julia Meek: As they graduate the program and they're still in the high school.
Marie Mante: Yeah.
Julia Meek: So, okay, as your grads continue to hone their skills and make big changes in their schools, how do you prepare them for taking their empowerment beyond those school doors, out into the community?
Marie Mante: We have so many opportunities for our young people beyond graduation, beyond when they leave high school, community involved projects that we lead. They have something called a Peace Night, where they can be a part of running it for the current high school students.
But it's just a fun time to gather. And they come up with games and just keep that excitement and energy going with the peacemaker students. And they invite friends. They help us to lead and to organize those types of events in-house.
But even in the community, they get asked many times to come and share their perspective. We went and spoke at the Rotary Club this past year, they fled MLK events at Manchester University, even one here for the community. With the MLK Club. They're asked a lot to participate in these events and assist us in leading.
Julia Meek: Those are legit events. Anybody would be very honored to be asked to take part in so, my goodness, quite a commendation to your mission and their success story.
Now, this past year has been very, very difficult, with DEI pushback at play, a lot of negativity. It seems like bullying is the new normal, almost sometimes. How can you, how do you work around those bad influences with your own kids in the academy?
Marie Mante: We're very open about topics that young people see in the news.
We're very open with hosting conversations. We had the Peace Club host a conversation about the issue with the immigration raids that were taking place in our very city a few months back, there was a lot of fear among our students.
What do we do? We know families that are directly impacted by this. We have, you know, family members ourselves. So we've hosted different guest speakers to come in and speak with the students.
But it's all through the students themselves asking for these resources, and it's all discussion-based, but we provide platforms and spaces with our after-school programming.
Julia Meek: And you find that so far effective in helping?
Marie Mante: Absolutely.
Julia Meek: And with five graduating classes by now out there making a change, Marie, how proud you must be of all of that. Can you yet measure a difference in the shift of attitude within the schools?
Marie Mante: Absolutely, we have a lot more buy-in from the top. Each principal that we work with is investing in deeper ways, whether it's resources or their time or just allowing more projects to take place within the schools.
So we're seeing a lot more buy-in, not just from the admin and the principals at each of our schools, but from teachers tapping upon our peace advocates asking, can you come and assist with, you know, a problem I'm having in my classroom? So yeah, absolutely.
Julia Meek: Isn't that an answer to your prayers?
Marie Mante: It is. Yeah! [laugh] We didn't know going in, how is this gonna be received? Because we started by just educating the students. We did very little education, to be honest, at the top level.
But through educating the students and seeing how passionate the students are, after learning about nonviolence, that's inspired the admin and the principals of these schools. So that's really cool to see.
Julia Meek: It's amazing. And most impressive! Is there a specific direction your grads can take to become involved in peace movements and violence prevention as a career or advocacy path.
Marie Mante: Yeah, we've worked with Manchester University. They have provided tours of campus for the Peace Studies.
We've had a lot of collaborative opportunities for our students there at Manchester to also bring their knowledge and teaching of Dr King's principles.
So that's been an open door for us there, and I think other universities around locally as well. Our students are seeking out those opportunities for peace studies.
Julia Meek: Great first, second and third step, we might say, in the power of this generation to plow forward and make big changes.
Now I am curious, Marie, what is your personal advice to anyone, anywhere who's being bullied and is afraid or ashamed to ask for help?
Marie Mante: I would say, don't be afraid. This is an unfortunate event that you're encountering. There's nothing on you. Reach out to someone you trust, get support as soon as you can.
You don't deserve this, and this is something that you do not need to deal with alone. Find a safe person.
And at each of our high schools, we have our peace advocates, and they are there for that very thing, to help anybody who's going through violence, whether it's physical, emotional, but there is a way out.
And so, seek and find that hope and believe that.
Julia Meek: Take that one step further, Marie. Is there a way out for all of us in this 21st Century to, in the most simplistic question I can ask, have peace? Have peace of mind. Have an end to violence, have a stop to bullying.
Marie Mante: I think it starts with that empathy. If we are able to put ourselves in another person's shoes. That's that's the start of understanding, of walking a mile in somebody else's shoes.
So much bullying has to do with what that individual has experienced in their life. And the more we can seek to understand one another, I think the more that that at least can play a part in having that hope that it can be better.
Julia Meek: And last question, Marie, if it is conflict resolution that's going to save us all. What's one thing we can all learn right now about how to be a little better at it?
Marie Mante: Hmmm. I would say believe that there is hope, that what you see right now isn't all there is to see. And believe that true change is going to take time.
There is no quick, easy answer, but being determined that if this is something that's worth salvaging, this being the relationship that you're in or the circumstance you find yourself in, then make space for that time, for nonviolence to play out.
It's an active force, but it does take time and being patient.
Julia Meek: Marie Mante is co-founder of Alive Community Outreach, along with her husband, Angelo, and director of school-based programs there. Thank you for this labor of peace and love that you do, Marie, and for sharing it story. Many blessings on your journey.
Marie Mante: Thank you.
