“We are trying to encourage self-actualization, we are non-judgmental and come from a place that is non-evaluative. The staff at PFP is just trying to be the best we can: to realize human potential in both ourselves and others. That’s the biggest thing that we can do.”
This week I had the opportunity to catch up with Craig Dobkin – co-founder of Play for Peace. Having just scraped the ice off my vehicle, I could relate to Craig as he trudged his way through the Denver snow and towards his beloved van – one he describes as much-loved and practically ancient: “over 270,000 clicks! I feel like I’ve had it for a thousand years.” With Craig nestled in his van, and me in my office, we talked about his recent work in Baltimore.
Over December and January, a two-part training session took place at the Y of Central Maryland. There, twenty-four representatives from twelve clubs joined Craig and his facilitators for mentor training. With them were three facilitators: Dr. Donald Squires, Dr. Ned Britt, and Laura Gervase. Interestingly enough, Craig, Don, and Ned taught together at what was then the Towson State College from 1973 – 1985. It had been years since they gathered together in an educative capacity. Excited, they began:
“The first day of training was simply about the joy of play – we did just that for eight hours. Play, without much processing or reflection: just entering that wonderful, magnificent place.”
Craig described the group as being engaged and responsive. One woman in particular posed a great question: what do we do if a child is distracted during one of our sessions? It’s bound to come up, after all. In a knowing voice, Craig told me what he shared with the group. “We address distractions by figuring out what the needs of that person are. When we do that, the person usually gets healed.” He went on to explain that meeting people’s needs is always a healing process. A child may be distracted because of other life difficulties: perhaps they need help participating or crave inclusion. To him, the distraction itself is never the issue. Rather, it’s the emotion behind the distraction, the why of the problem.
Now even more curious, I jumped in: “Tell me about Baltimore, Craig. What makes them in need of PFP?” His response was both immediate and thoughtful: “Baltimore is a city in conflict: consider the issues around what we’ve read in the newspapers – police officers killing black youth – it’s a big issue. These people want to make sure that they can get the message across on how to be safe and have fun. They want to learn how to work with others, and that’s why we went in there because our core values fit their situation.” Indeed, the second part of the training was focused on the application of the values shared in the first half – what PFP calls “WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?”.
This involves taking the skills learned and applying them to real-life situations: once you know, it is essential to transform it by then putting it to work in the world. At this session, mentors played games of trust: groups of three lifting one another off the ground, for example. How do they share the values learned here? To help them as they move forward, trainees were given a customized binder with over 100 goals, intentions, and activities that can be used in PFP sessions. To Craig, this is one of the top ten PFP tools that they have shared with participants: a kind of textbook that caters to the culture and demographic of where PFP is at that moment. At the beginning and end of each session, PFP has a ritual that we often use.
Participants take their two hands, slap their thighs, clap their hands, and snap their thumbs twice. This is a way to kick-start kinesthetic and spatial intelligence, beginning and ending the session in unity. This time, Craig and his team added words. As they moved, participants bellowed out: “slap, slap, clap, clap, click, click – Play For Peace!” Adding words strengthened the exercise: participants got more excited. They became further engaged in the act of play.
