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'I want to feel safe at school'
By MELANIE AVE
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- Claire Wilson is fed up. So are Shaquita Sherman and Mario Brown. They are tired of fights, bomb threats and rumors of violence interrupting their school days. So instead of spending their summer sleeping in, watching television or going to the mall, these teenagers are in school -- by choice. They are enrolled in a peer mediation enrichment class at their school, King High. They want to play a part in improving the climate at their school and stopping the wave of violence plaguing schools nationwide. "I want to feel safe at school," said Sherman, an 11th-grader. "I don't want to feel threatened, and I want everyone else to feel safe, too." Through peer mediation, students are taught to use their brains, not their fists, to resolve conflicts. They learn how to use negotiation skills in the heat of anger and how to help their classmates do the same. One goal of mediation is to resolve minor disputes before they explode into major ones. "Peer mediation sets the forum and gives the victim a voice and gives the victim recourse," said Liz Valdez, the district's supervisor of guidance programs. "Once you give voice to a victim, we are finding the rage, anger and frustration they feel diminishes." Like Hillsborough, a growing number of school districts around the country are instituting peer mediation programs. This past school year, the Hillsborough County School Board required all schools to have a mediation program in place. Pinellas County has the method in place at some schools, but not districtwide. Hillsborough school officials said it's needed now more than ever. Hillsborough received a record number of bomb threats this past school year in which students were evacuated and kept outside until a search of the school ended. At the same time, dozens of rumors floated through school hallways about potential shootings. On the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in April, hundreds of students stayed home out of fear. "There was a time when parents sent their kids to school and thought it was a safe place," said Brown, a 17-year-old King senior. "I want to get back to that point." Peer mediation is one way to do that, said King teacher Robin Jackson, who is considered a local expert on conflict resolution. She began the school's mediation program in 1993 and has demonstrated it to members of Congress. "I look at conflict as an opportunity," Jackson said. "When conflict comes, . . . you don't have to resort to hostility." Wilson, a King senior, said school violence never felt real to her until a student exploded a small device at school last year. "Those people walking the halls, we don't know what's going on at home with them," she said. "We don't know that us saying the wrong thing or having a bad attitude with them might be the one thing that pushes them off or makes them snap." At King High, starting at 7:30 every morning for four weeks, the 27 summer school students are led through lessons on understanding conflict, anger management and the mediation process by Jackson, a social studies teacher. Many of the students in Jackson's summer class will become a part of the core team of mediators, a group of students who help others work through their anger in the school's "Peace Room." Here's how it works: Neutral student mediators sit down with the parties and explain the ground rules of confidentiality, telling the truth and avoiding interruptions. Both parties are allowed to give their side of the story and are asked to consider what they would like to see happen. An agreement is reached, and both parties are asked to sign it and shake hands. No adults are present. "It empowers kids to solve their own problems," said Ken Otero, a district general director who oversaw the committee that recommended the districtwide implemention. He said national statistics show that mediation works. A recent study by University of Florida researchers showed that the number of student disciplinary incidents at one middle school declined markedly following implementation of mediation. Two other schools showed a less marked but possible trend toward a decline. Although the Hillsborough numbers for the first year of districtwide use have not been tallied, officials expect student suspensions and guidance referrals to be down. Mediation didn't take hold in schools until the 1980s. Schools realized how successful mediation was with disputes such as legal disagreements that were resolved before ending up in the court system. Students can ask for mediation, or they can be referred by teachers or administrators. The types of issues mediated include a lot of he-said-she-said incidents. Not all problems are brought to mediation. Some, like those involving drugs, weapons or battery, are considered too serious. Many times, mediation is a better option than kicking kids out of school, Otero said. "We're not out there looking for a reason to suspend kids," he said. "We want kids to be in school. If we suspend kids for fighting, that may make school safer, but it doesn't resolve the problem between the two kids." The King students said they think their new communication skills can be used outside the classroom in disagreements with their parents and friends. Sherman said she has learned an invaluable lesson through the class: "There's no reason to fight. You can sit down and talk your problems out without all the violence, without the guns." - Melanie Ave covers education and can be reached at (813) 226-3400.
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