Our options as to whether to take the violent or non-violent means of communicating will determine the direction of our future individually or collectively.
Events in the Middle East manifest how the Muslims and Arabs have chosen the violent confrontational approach. I laud the leadership of the Aquino administration for taking the diplomatic approach vis-à-vis our East Philippine Sea territorial dispute.
In my 65 years in this world, I can argue without fear of contradiction that negativity generates more negativity whereas positive undertakings yield more positive results.
A survey conducted in Great Britain, as reported in the book entitled How To Be Green compiled by John Button, two-thirds of television news items involve violence of one sort or another from international wars to car accidents and domestic assaults.
Another survey showed that by the age 15, the average British child, watching 19 hours of television a week, had witnessed 6,500 killings and 10, 400 shootings.
Should we localize the scenario, I bet the statistics would be at par considering the violence in our country, from hazing incidents to rebel warfare with our government troops. The Zamboanga siege by MILF forces in which civilians were taken hostage, and the Quirino grandstand hostage taking likewise involved civilians and both incidents were televised.
The street demonstrations by militant groups whose grievances from the years of Marcos dictatorship and the corruption in the government continues today.
The British survey reported that of the 21 million people killed worldwide in the 120 major wars since 1945, 61 percent have been civilians, compared with the five percent casualties in the World War II.
The study reported, however, the different techniques of non-violent conflict resolution that have been developed in recent years. These techniques include counseling programs for men who assault their partners or parents who abuse their children, conciliation techniques for industrial disputes and negotiation skills for diplomats who attempt to avoid involving their countries in violent confrontations.