Idea Transcript
Peer mediation is go-to conflict resolution at Brockton High By Anna Burgess The Enterprise Posted Apr 9, 2017 at 8:00 AM
Brockton High School peer mediators said they think the program works because they can relate to student conflicts. BROCKTON – The fight that broke out in the middle of a Brockton High School cafeteria was a worst-case scenario for the school in terms of conflict resolution. Called “a bad fight” by school principal Sharon Wolder, the violent altercation on March 22 was termed a “freak” occurrence by Julian Ricketson, a peer mediator and senior at the school. “This fight was allowed to escalate by the peers of the people fighting,” Ricketson said. Instead of dealing with students after they’ve been arrested, suspended, or both, school leaders hope to see arguments and disagreements de-escalated before they ever get to that point, during peer mediation. Brockton High has about 75 students like Ricketson, who are trained in conflict resolution, and work on a regular basis with students in conflict. Deans, teachers, or peers recommend students to mediation at least once a day, said Ricketson. It’s not mandatory, and it can’t be seen as a punishment, said Brockton High principal Sharon Wolder. “The students involved have to agree to it, because they have to understand why it’s important,” Wolder said. The students who run mediation sessions complete two semesters of training, learning how to de-escalate arguments and what types of questions to ask so both parties feel heard. Ricketson, who has been a mediator for three years, said he feels the program is more effective than a staff-run mediation might be. “It’s easier for kids to talk to someone their own age,” he said. “It’s easier for them to open up, because they figure you understand them more than an adult would, and that’s definitely true.” Senior John Neal, who joined the peer mediation program this year, said student mediators typically sit down with students who have been arguing in person or on social media, but haven’t gotten physical yet. They might even talk with students who have already gotten into a physical confrontation, “before it escalates or there’s retaliation,” Neal said. “Before they get suspended or expelled, which eventually they will.” As far as what students go to mediation to discuss, “no two are the same,” said Ricketson. Sometimes there are misunderstandings, sometimes they’re “best friend breakups,” as he put it, and sometimes they’re two students who were play-fighting and a teacher didn’t believe their explanation. The sessions are pretty effective overall, Neal and Ricketson said. “I had a walk-out the other day, but that doesn’t happen often,” said Ricketson. “Mostly, we’ll get people who don’t want to talk, but once we start asking questions, they’ll start talking – not to us, but to each other, and they’ll come to their own solution.”