girls & violence & youth ministry's response

i've been wondering lately if teen girls are becoming more violent. the thought started last week, when in my small group of 7th grade girls, one of the girls shared she'd missed the last group because she was suspened from school for beating up another girl. her revelation opened the proverbial can of worms as the girls started sharing about the fights between girls at their schools and i was a bit surprised at the number of fights they talked about and the violence level of them. i ended up scrapping the lesson i'd planned on women of the bible and switched to an impromptu one in conflict resolution. we talked about turning the other cheek, letting things roll off us instead of reacting, where we find our true identity and how, when and where to get help. it's been a little over a week since that small group meeting and it's been something i've continued to pray about and ponder.

this morning i saw this segment on the today show:

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it reinforced my concerns about increasing violence between young women. i hadn't considered making sure that conflict resolution was in a regular rotation of teaching topics, but i'm certainly planning for that now. and it made me wonder, as a youth worker, what other biblical life skills in i should include in my curriculum planning? i hit the traditional biggies: parents, friends, dating & sex. what life skills do you regularly include in your teaching?