Whether you are struggling in your personal and work life—or watching others struggle on the world stage—difficulties that cause severe conflict can shake you to your very core.
At such times, it is heartening for us to spend time with Hope kids and teens who have strong inner leadership instincts.
Mohammed—a seventh grader at Malik Academy in Boston—is one of those special kids. In today's Hope Clip, you can watch him teach how to mediate difficult conflicts:
"I feel confident that I'm helping people [who] don't know what to do," he explains of his work as a peer educator. "I'm giving them steps [so] they can learn in the future."
Mediators in life, he says, are critical, because "sometimes you're too upset to see things clearly, and the mediator can help you understand each other better." Not just anyone can mediate a conflict—it's important to find someone who is fair, empathetic and understanding, and who is not already biased in favor of one side.
Hope depends on an ability to bring people from conflicting positions together.
It is a skill that can be learned. When kids become the teachers, the lessons are truly moving