Success Stories

From Teachers

"I am writing to let you know that we are using The Peace Rug in our school library with much success. We do not "walk" on it, but have it in a safe place where it can be put out for ready use; where we can spread it out, sit down and talk together. Some Kindergarten students experienced difficulty on the playground one day, and told their teacher that they needed to go to the Peace Rug in the library. The two girls came and sat down together and were able to work out their differences and went away hand in hand. Later that day the teacher came to see what The Peace Rug was all about. She may be purchasing it for next year to have in her class. It is my hope that the children themselves will spread the word. Today a Third grader told me that he found your website online! Thank you for helping us all in an effort toward peace."

Dr. Eleanor Fall, Librarian, Loudoun Country Day School, Leesburg, VA

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"I wanted to follow up with you in regards to our usage of the wonderful Peace Rug! We have been using the rug to help children with disabilities and behavior issues. The rug has given many children a chance to learn and solve problems. This has been a wonderful resource and tool to help children with conflict issues. I have seen several children find peace when they use the rug and have observed so many intense moments become a time of love. There is a corner in our Family Resource Center for this time for children to use the Peace Rug. The rug has shown so many children a way to dissolve their anger, work on communication skills, way to control unwanted behaviors. I just wanted to share this information with you and how things have been going. The Peace Rug has given children a way to cope with the storms they face and has kept them safe until they can work out their own plan! This has been a special opportunity and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and if I can send any further information, please let me know. Thank you so much for all that you do!"

Elaine Tillman, Community Resource Specialist, Springfield Regional Center, Springfield, MO

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"I was glad to see The Peace Rug® recently featured on the front page of your paper. A Peace Rug® was donated to John Johnson Elementary School by Mrs. June Faircloth some weeks ago, and it has been used on several occasions. While it is no magic wand, nothing is, it conveys an overall message that we do have choices and peace progress can be made if we make the right choices. Just having a place where we know the expected goal is peace also promotes the promise of compromise and friendship. I hope that eventually every classroom can have one. I can also envision the benefits of having one in the home to be used by family members. If enough of us work on peace in ourselves and promote peace with others, certainly there will be a peaceful difference made in our society. Thank you for promoting peaceful ideas."

Gloria Jenkins, School Counselor, John Johnson Elementary School, Bainbridge, Georgia

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"Please accept our appreciation for the donation of The Peace Rug to our school. Each day we face conflict resolution incidents between students, and many times between students and adults. Additionally, our students many times face violence in the home and out in the community. We will use The Peace Rug as an integral part of our conflict resolution curriculum. I intend to train my staff on the use of (The Peace) Rug and pursue acquiring additional rugs for each classroom. Your contribution is our starting point in truly becoming a violence-free school."

Richard A. Stidom, Naomi Elementary School Counselor upon receiving a gift of The Peace Rug from North Georgia Electrical Membership Corporation

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"I had used The Peace Rug® when the children have come in from the playground upset about a situation. They talk about what happened and what they should have done differently; they shake hands and come out smiling. This is a great tool. I have children tell me that they need to go to The Peace Rug® with someone and they solve their problems on their own without even involving me. It's great and saves time!"

Traci Hanks, Kindergarten Teacher, Westwood Elementary School, Dalton, Georgia.

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"My most memorable Peace Rug® event was when I had been offended by a student who refused to do something I asked. I "took" the student to The Peace Rug® in front of the rest of the class. I was able to model the language. The children responded positively."

Elaine Davis, Kindergarten Teacher at Brookwood School, Dalton, Georgia.

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"Last school year when I was counselor at Crossroads, an alternative school for children ages 12 to 18 in Whitfield County, Georgia, I was given The Peace Rug® to use with my students. I can tell you from my own personal experience that The Peace Rug® works! It really, really works! When my students had a problem with another student, they went to The Peace Rug®. They themselves worked out whatever the difficulty was. I even posted the simple script in large letters so they could read it if they forgot the words. It really made a difference, and the atmosphere in my school changed from being reactive to being proactive for the rest of the school year. I received The Peace Rug® late in the year, but ideally, starting the school year with this curriculum would be best for the students. I am now Assistant Principal in charge of Discipline at Dalton High School, and I want and need another Peace Rug® donated! I had been a professional counselor for many years before serving in any school setting and believe from my professional training that students of all ages need this experience of finding their own voice and need to develop this skill. It belongs in every classroom!"

Ron Ward, MA, LPC, Assistant Principal, Dalton High School, Dalton, Georgia.

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"I have found that The Peace Rug® has empowered many of my students to handle their own problems. They are less dependent on the teacher to address minor occurrences. Although preparing the students to effectively communicate their feelings takes a significant amount of time, it is well worth it. My instruction is interrupted significantly less with tattle telling since students can handle matters on their own. Problems that arise are handled primarily without the assistance of the teacher, which allows me to continue with other responsibilities. My students better understand that their actions affect others. They are learning that words can be used to solve problems and deal with emotion, rather than physical aggression. The Peace Rug® has been a very worthwhile tool in my first grade classroom."

Dr. Amy Haynes, Literacy Coach for Whitfield County Schools

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"Students who were having problems with another child in the classroom would come and ask me if they could go to The Peace Rug®. At times when I did not know that something was happening between two students, they would go to The Peace Rug® and work out their problems. Sometimes I would not know what the situation was because they worked it out on their own without my having to intervene. They were learning to monitor their problems and work things out without an adult having to assist."

Lynnda G. Higgins, IEP Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia

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"My students have used The Peace Rug® for the past two years to handle conflicts with each other. They will ask to go The Peace Rug® without any prompting from me. This method of settling disagreements is so diplomatic because children are taking ownership for their problems and solving them in a non-hostile way. I applaud Helen for her remarkable behavior management invention!!!!"

Janice Griffin, First Grade Teacher, Park Creek School, Dalton, Georgia

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"I started using The Peace Rug® as a single child thing, per the kids, you 'think about it and make it better.' I've since discovered it's great for multiple kids. Several of my kids "thought" that if they wanted a particular toy, they could tell me "XXX is not sharing" and that I would automatically give the toy to them. Now I keep the toy and have them ALL go to The Peace Rug® and have THEM decide what to do.... I believe it starts them in decision-making skills. They usually go to another toy or game. Fussing is down to almost zero now."

Betsy Thornton, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia

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"When children are given the chance to sit down with their "enemies" and work through problems in a special place that is not "time out," I have found that they take ownership in their decisions. They came up with a solution; one wasn't just given to them in haste to make things better and to move on."

Amy Huggins, Kindergarten Teacher, Kennesaw, Georgia

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"My students have shown a strong desire to work things out using The Peace Rug®. When students have a conflict they often initiate going to The Peace Rug®. They have worked hard to learn the positive dialogue to use at The Peace Rug®. The Peace Rug® has helped students to settle their own difficulties. It was well worth the time put into teaching the procedure."

Kandace Carter, First Grade Teacher, Park Creek School, Dalton, Georgia

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"The thing that I think is special and quite effective about The Peace Rug® is that students CHOOSE to use it to solve problems. Often they will remember it before I do, and they will approach me and tell me that they are having problems with another student or that one has hurt their feelings, and then they say, "I think we need to go to The Peace Rug®." I go on about my business of teaching while the 2 or 3 involved sit down and work out their issues. They usually come back from The Peace Rug® with smiles rather than tears."

Leigh Watson, Third Grade Teacher, Ringgold, Georgia

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"The Peace Rug® is an inventive tool that teaches the children there's another person involved, not just themselves, thus fostering listening and empathy skills, both critical skills for functioning in the world. The children are learning to set blame aside and say what's bothering them in a nonviolent way. Most of all, The Peace Rug® offers an option for solving conflict with others and the children are learning ways to approach conflict in a healthy way!"

Michelle Lively, Second Grade Teacher, Brookwood Elementary, Dalton, Georgia

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"My children often use it when we come in from recess to resolve some problem they had on the playground. (Some cooked up things just to get to sit on it!) By the time, they had sat and discussed their problem/s, they usually were laughing!"

Judy Griffin, Second Grade Teacher, Brookwood Elementary, Dalton, Georgia

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"There were 2 little girls who argued almost every day and ... I told them to go sit down on The Peace Rug® and talk about it. They did and then took it upon themselves to go again. From that point on, they never had any problems."

Cindy Parrott, Kindergarten Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia

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"I had two little girls that were mad at each other about something. They had been in trouble because of the way they were acting towards each other. I saw both of them approach me one day and I thought they were going to tell on each other again. Well, to my surprise, they looked at me and said, "Can we go to The Peace Rug® for a few minutes and see if we can work this out?" Well, of course, I said yes and they weren't mad at each other anymore."

Jan Gowan, Second Grade Teacher, Park Creek Elementary School, Dalton, Georgia

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From Students

During research for a doctoral dissertation, 60 students were interviewed under strict guidelines. Below you will find a few student narratives on reported experiences using The Peace Rug®.

"The Peace Rug is when you sit down and you talk to somebody and you share your feelings and you make up with each other. I felt shy at first and nervous. It has changed me to be a nicer person. It changed the other person: they are being nice to me. Now it's better. I also use the Peace Rug outside at recess."

Student #5

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"When you use The Peace Rug you say nice stuff to your friend that was bothering you and you work it out and then you be [sic] friends again. Felt good using it. It changed me to be happy. It changed the other person to be happy too. In the night my mom was getting mad and I tell her to don't hit me [sic] and if we can talk. It changed the problem."

Student #9

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"When I used it, it felt good. And I helped the other person do the right thing. It changed the other person by talking it out with them. Talking about it changed the problem. There was a girl in class who said she wished that I was never [sic] born. I told her that we needed to go to The Peace Rug ... when you do this it makes me feel like this."

Student #12

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"It was a good thing; it helped me. I felt happy. It changed me to not fight anymore and be friends. It changed [the others] — they stopped doing bad things. It changed the problem."

Student #13

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"It was easy and it helped me to be friends with the others. I felt good when I was using it. It changed me by being friends with others and being peaceful and not fighting. I think it changed the other person by talking and giving kind words. It helped with the problem."

Student #14

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"It's good to use when you meet new kids or if you have done something to them you can apologize to them. And it's a way to meet people and be friends with people. And if there is a group of kids that play together and don't play with you if you take them to The Peace Rug maybe they will ask you to come play with them. If I was the person who did something to them I would feel bad but I would still feel happy that I went to The Peace Rug to apologize to them and I felt like a good friend and it made me feel really good. I am very good but if I did something bad or got angry I would get on The Peace Rug and the kids would tell me what I did to them. I would start to feel how they felt and see how I would feel if they did it to me. So I see how I should treat people like I want to be treated. The other person, if they had done something to me, I am sure that if they saw how I felt they can see how it would hurt to be treated like that so that they will treat other people better. If me [sic] and the other person had problems like calling names or fighting we talked about it and noticed that we were hurting each other and that as we talked it worked out and the problem started to go away [sic]. I think The Peace Rug is a great thing and I think if it wasn't here there would be a whole lot of bad. There wouldn't be a way to make problems go away."

Student #16

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"We talk to the person that we fight or have problems with. [I felt] fine. It changed me; it changed them. It changed the problem by going to The Peace Rug. Things are better."

Student #27

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"I used it last year and this year and when I was in kindergarten. [I felt] good. It made my heart happy. It changed both [of us] and we hugged each other. We got to be friends. At home, when me [sic] and my sister fight, I use it. Every time she hits me I use it. She doesn't know how to do it so I am teaching her."

Student #50

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From Parents

Names have been changed to protect privacy.

"I am enjoying the relationships with my children more. The boundaries are better set regarding responsibility. As a result, I am less controlling and allowing my children to be responsible for their own choices."

Connie, children ages 19, 23, and 25

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"They feel more accepted and can feel the real love I have for them."

Kelly, children ages 10, 21, and 24

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"It (The Peace Rug) solves problems without scarring the people involved and improves relationships. I am working on responding to negative situations without blaming and without trying to force control. It's a great feeling when I can handle a situation correctly."

Pam, children ages 16 and 20

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"We can talk without arguing."

Fiona, two children in high school

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"My children really love to use The Peace Rug! We don't go around "wounding" each other and not even realizing we are doing it."

Bonnie, children in upper elementary, middle and high school

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"I've got a really hot temper. The Peace Rug has let me say what really irritates me without my blowing up at my kids. It took a couple of weeks for me to realize it was working. It's more than a time-out — we really solve our problems."

John, children ages 10 and 7

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"Who would think that a rug and some words could make a difference? Trying to get 3 kids off to school started with arguing and continued when they got home. Now if something happens and we start to fight, one of the kids will just say, "Mom, it's Peace Rug time," and even the tone of my voice changes. Mornings aren't bad anymore."

Angela, children ages 6, 7, and 14

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"Why didn't I have The Peace Rug when my boys were younger? Would have saved so many hurt feelings and anger — not only between them but for my wife and I. At least now we can talk respectfully to each other!"

Tom, boys 15 and 17

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"My dad was a really angry and critical man and I've done the same to my boys. My wife heard about The Peace Rug and got one. I wasn't going to use it but one day, I really exploded and almost hit one of them. Something had to change. We all learned what The Peace Rug was about and how to use it. Now, if any of us get mad, we can work it out. I don't want my boys to be like my old man and I think The Peace Rug is giving my family a new chance. I'm 40, a truck driver and over 250 pounds but I'm proud to say I'm using The Peace Rug."

Dan, children ages 9 and 11