As you know, conflict is an unavoidable part of life. Passengers in a carmight disagree about a wrong turn on a road trip. A person may play music more loudly than others would like. Friends may argue over who is to blame for a broken possession. These are all types of conflict.

Conflicts are not always minor and harmless. Assaults or threatened assaults often happen between people who know each other and, in many of these cases, start off with small arguments or disagreements. The mediation process provides a way for these people to resolve their disagreements before either party resorts to violence. It also helps people reach agreements without feeling they have had to “give in.” In this way, both sides in mediation come out winners!

Mediation has helped to reduce violence in neighborhoods and in schools. Using peers as mediators—a process known as “peer mediation”—is a popular way of handling conflicts and preventing violence in middle schools and high schools. Schools using this process recruit and train students interested in being peer mediators. Guidance counselors or other trained professionals teach the young mediators how to listen to both sides of an argument, offer unbiased impressions, and help students in conflict find a workable solution to their problem. For example, the Peer Mediation in Schools Program, developed by the New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution, trains school staff and students in peer mediation. This program uses selected students as peer mediators and includes:

• Curriculum focused on conflict resolution.
  
  
• Staff orientation designed to help teachers exhibit the communication skills they are trying to instill in their students.

Peer mediators help the disputants rechannel anger and reach peaceful agreements. When a disagreement or conflict arises, a teacher, an administrator, a concerned student, or the fighting students themselves can refer the issue to peer mediation. A peer mediator is quickly assigned, and the mediation process begins, resolving the issue and preventing further discord. Playground mediators in elementary schools similarly help prevent fights and resolve disagreements between much younger students.

Mediation programs run for and by youth have enjoyed great success across the Nation. Students in Buncombe County, NC, for example, have conducted more than 1,100 mediation hearings at middle schools and high schools. The disputes were handled by more than 330 student mediators, all of whom received training and technical assistance from the Mediation Center of Asheville, NC. According to Buncombe County school officials, the mediation sessions were a huge success. They eliminated 742 days of in-school suspension and 1,220 days of out-of-school suspension. The school system also reported reduced violence in the schools as a result of the mediation program.

Youth in Action Bulletin

March 2000     Number 15