Safe Schools

PEER MEDIATION:

Peer Mediation is a process where students are specially trained to help their peers resolve conflicts before they escalate to the violence level. It requires adult supervision and promotion as well as student participation and involvement.

The Peer Mediation Program in the Manchester schools is in all elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. It is also available to the participating private schools in the city.

There are approximately 550 student mediators and 200 adult advisors. The adults include teachers, guidance counselors and administrators.

At the completion of the 1997/1998 academic school year ( the completion of the second year of this program) there was a 37% reduction in referrals to the office for disciplinary action for student/student conflicts at the elementary level. This represented a significant measurable result for such a brief expenditure. There are many other positive results of a less calculative nature reported by students, teachers, administrators and parents.

Purpose:

• Conflicts are a normal part of everyone’s life and students can responsibly and constructively solve their own conflicts.
• To resolve peer disputes that interfere with the education process.
• To build a stronger sense of cooperation and school community.
• To improve the school environment by decreasing tension and hostility.
• To increase student participation and develop leadership skills.
• To develop communication, critical thinking and practical life skills.
• To improve student-student and student-teacher relationships.
• Conflicts cannot actually be resolved if the disputants themselves do not choose to do so.
• Disputants are the best judges of what will resolve the conflict.
• Disputants are more likely to execute an agreement if they possess authorship of it.
• Students are able to connect with their peers in ways adults cannot.
• Peer mediators are capable of framing disputes in the perspective, language, and attitudes of youth, making the process age appropriate.
• Students perceive peer mediation as a way to talk out problems without fear that an adult authority will judge their behaviors, thoughts, or feelings.
• Peer mediators are respected because they honor the problem-solving process and their peers in the dispute by the way they conduct mediation sessions.
• The self-empowering aspect of the process appeals to youth and fosters self-esteem and self-discipline.
• Disputants take ownership of the problem and the solutions.
• When students come up with their own solutions, they fell in control of their lives and committed to the plans of action that they have created to address their problems.
• The skills developed from mediation sessions transfers to future conflicts and guides them to effective resolution without third party intervention.

BENEFITS OF PEER MEDIATION:

• Peer mediation can enable students to see conflict as a part of everyday life and as an opportunity to grow and learn.
• Peer mediation can be more effective than suspension or detention in promoting responsible behavior.
• Peer mediation can help reduce violence, vandalism, and absenteeism in schools.
• Peer mediation can help reduce the amount of time teachers and administrators spend dealing with conflicts among students.
• Peer mediation is a life skill that empowers students to solve their own problems through improved communication and understanding of differences.
• Peer mediation can be a force for promoting mutual understanding of various individuals and groups throughout the school community.