When situations like these happen at Decatur Middle School in Indianapolis, IN, the two conflicting parties have an opportunity to resolve their differences through peer mediation. Students, teachers, and administrators are all satisfied. Principal John Taylor reports a reduction in referrals for discipline since peer mediation was implemented in 1993. He says, "With Peer Mediation students have a tool to solve their own problems. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their behavior and for their solution."
Peer mediator Kimberly DelGado (real names are not used), an eighth grader at Decatur, believes mediation offers positive results. She says it not only keeps people out of trouble, but also provides opportunities to make new friends out of people who might have been their enemies. enemies. Students Paul Chang and Lea Snyder, both peer mediators, have used their mediating skills outside the classroom to help their friends solve problems. Science teacher Pat Donavan who helped initiate peer mediation at Decatur, says that it helps to relieve tension between the kids. It is successful because "it helps kids understand each other."
At Martin Luther King Law and Public Service Magnet High School in Cleveland, OH, the W.A.V.E. (Winning Against Violent Environments) mediation program has been active for nearly 15 years. Mediators from W.A.V.E. train teachers and other students how to run a mediation program. Tasha Smith, who has been a mediator for three years, believes that mediation has made the school a safe place. She says that mediation shows students "a different way to solve problems, without violence."
Nate Johnson reports that being a mediator has made a difference in his life outside school. "Before I started doing this, my brother and I used to fight all the time. Now, I talk to him instead of fighting with him. We haven't had a physical fight all this year."
This document was last updated 6/30/97 by
Chandra Hawley.
Copyright
1996 Indiana University -
Center for Adolescent Studies, all rights reserved.
Kris Bosworth - Director