The lived experience of violence: using storytelling as a teaching tool with middle school students.

This qualitative study explored 8th-grade students' responses to hearing stories about the lived experience of violence. A convenience sample of 13 students attending health education classes at a public middle school was used. After hearing each story, students answered a series of questions using the process of free writing. Free writing is a technique that allows students to explore their thoughts and reactions while promoting critical thinking. Student free writing samples were analyzed using a process of constant comparison. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) students gain insights into the realities of violence through hearing these stories, (b) students respond on an emotional level to both the stories and the storytellers, and (c) students respond positively to and are engaged by these stories. The findings lend support to the use of storytelling in teaching youth about violence. School nurses can develop and implement violence prevention education programs using the storytelling model, seek grant and community support for such programs, and conduct further research into the use of the storytelling model.