Aurora Alternative High School, The Phoenix, 1996, Page 84

Description:	Conflict Mediation:Students Make Peacein the SchoolHere at the Alternative School, the road can be rocky attimes. Naturally, arguments arise and conflicts are many. Wehave explored several options in order to find an alternative tofighting.Our school spent two days in a continuing town meeting todiscuss problems facing us. Much of the conversation was aboutthe conflict in the student/student and teacher/student relationships. It was suggested that we needed a way to resolveconflicts constructively.Social Worker Greg Marchant recommended a method calledConflict Mediation. Four students, Leo Tyree, Rooth Farnsworth,Colin McClain, and Maryellen May volunteered to become StudentMediators. With much practice, the students learned this skill.“I thought that I could help other students get their conflictsresolved. If you get in a fight here, you get kicked out and Idon’t want anyone to get kicked out so it’s important to getthings resolved,” said Leo.Conflict Mediation is a structured conversation betweentwo people who have an argument. The two people appear beforetwo student mediators. The mediators will follow a format withwhich they use to resolve the situation in a way that respectsboth points of view. There are no winners and no losers withconflict mediation, there is only the solution. “It gives students one more means of resolving disagreements. Another benefit is that it helps people communicate respectfully and thereis no more important thing than being able to be heard and understood by another person in a respectful manner,” saidMarchant.“The bottom line is it works in many schools and it hasbeen proven. It empowers the students with being able to takecare of the problems,” Greg added. Maryellen MaySocial Worker GregMarchant smiles on hisway to the garage roomto get a student for aconsultation. Gregspends most of his dayworking one-on-onewith students.Rooth, Leo, Colin, andMaryellen demonstratetheir mediating skillsat a Town Meeting.SPEEDLIMIT84
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-aurora/id/192
Collection:	Aurora Alternative High School

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