Peer Mediation Resurrected at Huntington High School
The concept is simple: Students helping classmates resolve conflicts. But, peer-mediation takes months of training and requires a genuine and sustained commitment to the program for it to get off the ground and be successful.
Huntington High School resurrected its dormant program last August. Since then guidance counselors Casey Horowitz and Bernadette Walsh have been training 13 sophomores, juniors and seniors as peer mediators for the building’s 1,200 students.
The trainees are an energetic bunch. “They are very committed to the program and truly believe in student-centered conflict resolution,” Ms. Horowitz and Ms. Walsh wrote in a letter to fellow faculty members. “We are confident they will be of great value to the staff and student body.”
Ms. Horowitz and Ms. Walsh are the peer mediation program’s faculty advisors. They said the school’s three deans will help schedule mediation sessions. “Students can be referred for peer mediation by faculty, administration, students and other building staff,” they explained.
“I am looking forward to the service of peer mediators,” Principal Carmela Leonardi said. “Mrs. Horowitz and Mrs. Walsh have done an outstanding job training all the mediators and have carefully developed the referral process. Under their care the mediators will be able to support those students who need a forum for resolution of disagreements and misunderstandings that could lead to conflicts. This is the most effective way of resolving conflicts since the peer support and involvement will make agreements more genuine and binding.”
The value of a peer mediation program is obvious. “It is inevitable that students get into fights, arguments or disagreements and it’s inevitable that they will affect school life in some way,” according to an information sheet distributed to the high school community. “But it isn’t inevitable that these conflicts have to be unproductive and that they have to lead to unproductive consequences such as time away from learning and increased stress and tension.”
Huntington’s program aims for the trained peer mediators “to assist their fellow students in productive, solution-focused, student-centered conflict resolution.”
The peer mediation room, located near the cafeteria, has been “revamped” with decorative items donated by students and parents. “Mediations will begin in January,” Ms. Horowitz said. The next training session will be held on January 13.
“The students were trained through a program called Lifetrax,” Ms. Horowitz said. “We met for two full days of training, followed by monthly debriefing sessions where we continue to do role plays and review situations as they come up. Students were recommended by the faculty and then began participation in training.”
More peer mediators will be trained next spring. “The previously trained students will help with the training and the program will grow,” Ms. Horowitz said.
The program’s potential benefits are clear. Peer mediators learn effective communication and problem-solving skills, which can also be valuable in their relationships with their parents and teachers; Students can develop leadership skills and can increase their self esteem; Mediators can have a strong positive influence on other students; Teachers can spend less time settling disputes among students; and the program can improve overall school climate through better student/staff relationships, according to
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