https://www.amazon.com/stores/DAVID-JONES/author/B0BKN2WWP5/allbooks
Editorial Review For Why Violence Is Not My Friend
David Jones gives readers ages 11 to 14 a direct guide to
anger, conflict, and choice. Why Violence Is Not My Friend opens with
the physical rush that can follow teasing, embarrassment, pressure, or
disrespect. Jones explains the body’s alarm response through the fast brain
and the thinking brain. He then shows how one quick reaction can lead to
school discipline, injury, broken trust, stress, and fewer choices. Jones keeps
one message in view: anger carries information, and violence adds damage.
The book earns trust through the way it addresses anger.
Jones treats anger as an emotion, then places responsibility on action. This
reduces shame and preserves accountability. The text acknowledges self defense,
unsafe situations, and the need for help from an adult. School hallways, group
projects, sports, and online exchanges give the lessons a setting. Readers see
what conflict sounds like, where it can turn, and how another response can
work. Jones turns anger management from a lecture into a set of moves young
readers can use.
The B.R.A.K.E. method forms the center of the book. Readers
learn to Breathe, Recognize, Ask, Know their options, and Execute a better
move. Each letter gives the mind a task during a tense moment. Repetition
across later chapters builds recall, so the method feels usable by the closing
pages. The I feel statements, listening steps, walking plan, and repair
activity provide more ways to act. The acronym earns its page space and does
real work. The B.R.A.K.E. method gives readers a sequence to follow at the
point where emotion starts to drive behavior.
The book fits the youth self help and social emotional
learning genre. It serves as a reading guide and a practice book. Chapters use
short sections, reflection questions, and action steps. The end pages include
ten discussion questions, chapter prompts, six activities, and a note for
adults. The book has an accompanying workbook that readers can use beside the
main text. This structure suits homes, classrooms, counseling sessions,
mentoring programs, and youth groups. Parents, teachers, counselors, and mentors
can use the material to begin talks about triggers, boundaries, repair, and
safety. This book treats peace as a skill that readers can practice, name, and
repeat.
Readers facing peer pressure, teasing, online conflict, or
trouble with anger will find language that respects their age. The book speaks
to them directly and never turns into a scolding session. That choice matters.
It asks for progress and practice, then leaves room for mistakes and repair.
Adults seeking shared language for conflict will find the B.R.A.K.E. tool
useful in conversation. The reflection pages give each reader a chance to build
a pause plan and choose support ahead of the next conflict.
Why Violence Is Not My Friend makes its case through
consequences, examples, and repeated practice. Jones presents strength as
pausing, speaking with respect, setting boundaries, walking away, and asking
for help. The book fulfills its promise to give readers tools they can use. I recommend
it for readers ages 11 to 14, families, schools, and youth programs seeking a
way to discuss anger and prevent violence. Jones makes self control feel like
something readers can practice one choice at a time.