CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. filed a bill that seeks to provide training on violence prevention to professionals who work with children.

House Bill 9131 or the proposed Violence Prevention Training for Early Childhood Educators Act authorizes the Department of Education to award grants to public elementary schools that carry out early childhood education training programs to provide violence prevention training as part of the early childhood education training program.

Villafuerte said that aggressive behavior in early childhood is the single best predictor of aggression in later life.

He added that early childhood offers a critical period of overcoming risk for violent behavior and providing support for prosocial behavior.

“Primary prevention can be effective. When preschool teachers teach young children interpersonal problem-solving skills and other forms of conflict resolution, children are less likely to demonstrate problem behaviors,” Villafuerte said in his explanatory note.

He added that violence prevention programs for very young children yield a multitude of benefits by providing health and stability to the child and the child’s family, and by reducing expenditures for medical care, special education, and involvement with the judicial system.

Under the bill, the programs should include a comprehensive plan for the activities and services including the goals of the violence prevention training program; profile of the counselors and the other childcare providers; and methods for assessing the success of the violence prevention training program.