Northfield school sees success using peer mediation process in student disciplinary process

By Tiffany Litzelman
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

According to school personnel, violence and hostility are on the decline in the Northfield Middle and High School. This may be due to current programs which help the students be part of the solution.

Instances of discipline in the Northfield Middle and High Schools have been cut almost in half over the last four years. In fact, the rate has gone "from 1,984 incidents to just over 1,000 incidents" in the past year, said Peter Evans, the Northfield Middle and High School principal.

"The ultimate goal of the discipline plan is to help kids accept responsibility for their own actions," Evans said. "I think this, more than anything, has had a big impact on our school."

Some school personnel also credit the peer mediation program, which was introduced two years ago, with having a positive influence on the students.

In the program, two or more students are able to talk out their conflicts while both a trained student and teacher mediate.

Not all teachers and students are authorized to be mediators; teachers choose which students are involved in and trained for the process.

According to Tom Houston, a middle school teacher, they try to choose "a good cross-section of kids across different socioeconomic classes and from within different cliques in the school."

In order to prepare for peer mediation, the students and teachers must attend a two-day workshop given by Woodbury College, during which they are taught the basics of mediation, including the right of each student to talk without interruption.

In addition, they are taught to "remain neutral, deal with problems rationally, and to facilitate free speech," Houston said.

At the end of a mediation session, when a conflict is resolved, a formal contract of what the student will and will not do is written.

"You actually document that on paper," Kirn said. "You build the agreement, you write the agreement, then you close. It's a real dignified, nice way to do it."

The peer mediation program gives students an alternative to telling a a teacher about their problems.

According to Reed Korrow, the Northfield Middle and High School Guidance Coordinator, when students are able to talk to people near their own age, they "feel more free to say what's on their minds."

Incidents which involve serious disciplinary action, such as harassment, are not dealt with in peer mediation, according to Sally Kirn, school nurse. She explained problems that make it into peer mediation are usually minor conflicts.

"Mainly, it's people that are having disagreements among each other," said Lindsey Bush, a ninth grader who was made a mediator last year. "Sometimes people call each other names."

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