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®.

Student #5:
"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 #9:
"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 #12:
"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 #13:
"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 #14:
"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 #16:
"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 #27:
"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 #50:
"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."