Back
to The Counselor's Corner
Peer
Mediation
The Peer Mediation program provides a means of nonviolent
conflict resolution for students, and staff to be used for disputes that arise
in the school setting. Students are trained as mediators who act as third party
neutrals to help disputants reach agreements that are mutually satisfactory.
Mediation is a voluntary process; the mediator does not find fault or punish or
decide outcomes, but helps parties reach agreements that will allow them to
continue their relationship.
Students learn new skills in managing anger and conflict
and practice these skills by direct participation in the mediation process. The
program also seeks to improve the environment of the school setting by helping
students and staff to address and solve the underlying conflicts that often
cause rule infractions. The use of mediation can reduce the number of disputes
that become violent or hurtful and reduce the amount of staff time spent on
discipline. Through the use of student mediation, students learn life-long
communication and problem solving skills.
Mediation is an alternative form of dispute resolution
which has grown in use in the last 15 years as a result of dissatisfaction with
the adversarial process in resolving certain types of disputes, especially those
between parties who have an ongoing relationship. in the mediation process,
mediators act as third party neutrals who do not impose solutions on the
disputants, but remain neutral, non-punitive and non-judgmental. The process
allows the parties to:
