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Students resolve conflict through Peer Mediation
By Annmarie Mallon Peer mediation is an ongoing program used by the High school of Telecommunications Art and Technology (HSTAT) to resolve conflicts between students. When two kids disagree on something in HSTAT and either, one of them tells an adult in the school or the conflict is overheard by an adult peer mediation is suggested by any one of the Deans or Mrs. Monahan, the assistant principal of the school. In a meeting, the two students sit and talk until they are both able to come to some type of an agreement and apologize to each other. The sessions are held in a small room with a small window next to the dean’s office that is empty besides some desks and chairs. One situation that peer mediation was used for was explained by Ashley Rodriguez “It was problems with a girl and she was talking about me. It almost broke into a fight & instead a security guard pulled us away and we got thrown in the dean’s office.” said Rodriguez a senior who attends HSTAT and had a first hand account of the process of peer mediation. “They made me do it once with Lonergan [a dean from HSTAT]. It was horrible cause they make you sit there with the person you almost fight and the dean,” Rodriguez said. A student who has attended peer mediation several times “… It’s the same thing every single time. You sit with the person; suppress your anger for however long you need to. Then at the end, apologize and shake hands.” commented the senior who would rather remain anonymous. “If I really got angry, I could just throw a chair at them. It’s not really the safest place to talk about problems.” said the senior. He believes “No. After you guys shake hands the issue is still there because we are humans we hold and that won’t be changed just because an adult forced us to talk.” this teenager has dealt with the process of these sessions more than once in HSTAT. The peer mediation program was created to prevent physical fights in the school and give all students a sense of security. Supported and encouraged by most adults in the school this program is meant to work. There is no way to truly prove whether or not peer mediation does benefit HSTAT because it depends solely on the situation occurring between the students and therefore the point of view would affect people’s opinions. |
