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Sport in the prevention of violence
"As an international
language, sport should be considered as a practical means to communicate messages of peace and help find non-violent solutions to problems". This extract was taken from the UN report entitled "Sport and
Millennium Development Goals" and provides a clear indication of the opportunities that sport offers for peace education
(you will find the entire report a the following website: UN Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace).
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How much importance can be attached to motion-orientated approaches for preventing violence?
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It enables aggression and the need for physical expression to be controlled and worked off
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It provides a way of guiding existing physical skills into positive channels
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Confident sporting activity can be used to counter fear of the unknown
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It offers a way for young people to practice and improve relationships between themselves and to their environment
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It's possible to learn to accept existing rules
[Prof. Dr. Gunter Pilz]
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The following extract from a declaration lists the positive effects that sport can have
on work with young people: |
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Criteria
for motion-orientated approaches
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Targeting the activity
to take account of the needs of young people |
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Low demands in terms of sporting motion |
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Taking account of youth-culture related motions
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Flexibility in terms of
space, time and substance |
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The ability to transfer the skills learnt during the activity to all areas of life |
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Avoiding embarrassing
situations |
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Creating a learning atmosphere that is free from fear and stimulating
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Promoting cooperative interaction
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"While it's important not to see sport as a way of fixing all
society's ills, it does offer a valuable tool for preventing violence and promoting social
integration. (...) Sporting activity offers a good way of reducing physical and emotional tension and getting rid of pent up
aggression. In addition to this, successful experiences and learning success in sport strengthen self-confidence and trust in one's own skills and
one's own ability to cope with pressure. There is no doubt that sport provides an extremely positive way of bringing about social contact and
a feeling of being part of a group. When the majority or, indeed, all of free time is spent
doing unorganized and non-structured things, there is a danger that the acceptance of violence and the preparedness to carry out violence actions might be strengthen
considerably. The youth work undertaken by sports clubs rests mainly on the commitment of
volunteers. But this work is important in that is brings children and young adults into a community with standards and
values, encourages them to live out stabilizing influences and makes a large contribution to the developing and
stabilizing the personalities of young people."
[Adopted by the Board of Sporting Youth in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen on 21.03.1995]
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More texts on the subject of "Sport and preventing violence":
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