Pupils mediate peer disputes

The Cohoes Catholic School student is a peer mediator -- part of a program begun last year to help students resolve their own problems by having a fellow child mediate between the opposing parties.

CCS is the first elementary school in the Albany Diocese to use the peer mediation program; last year, about 20 students from grades four through eight were trained to be mediators.

In the middle

Students being mediated have to sign a written agreement to follow through on making peace in whatever way they've agreed on, she said. And "they have to come back if they don't do what they said."

Program moderators Teddie Bullock and Maureen Ferris, who teach at the school, told The Evangelist they're happy to see peer mediation in use. The program grew out of visits to CCS last year by Diane Murray-Fleck, prevention services coordinator for the diocesan Catholic School Office.

A social worker, Ms. Murray-Fleck worked with some troubled students, but suggested the program as an alternative. The teachers volunteered to help.

End to bullying

The moderators believe that children have more trouble settling arguments now, partially because many come from single-parent homes. If they haven't seen adults working out problems at home, said Mrs. Bullock, they won't be able to do so themselves at school.

Students must request mediation themselves, though it's occasionally suggested by a teacher. The moderators stressed that "no one is dragged in kicking and screaming."

Beneficiaries

"The little ones are really taken aback when someone says, `I felt bad when....,'" said Mrs. Ferris. "They're so centered on themselves; it doesn't occur to them that someone else could feel that bad."

They recalled three second-graders who had a disagreement because one felt left out at recess and felt his classmates were making sure that was happening. As the moderators watched -- they don't step in, but allow the children to work through the issue themselves -- the students came up with the decision to form a club everyone could join.

"It's not the solution I would have come up with," Mrs. Bullock said, laughing, but the students left feeling satisfied.

Children's choice

Instead, she said, "the kids come in so angry and hostile, and they get to say what they think" and calm down as a result.

The pair agreed that with so many troubled homes and social problems today, all schools would be well-advised to try such programs. Said Mrs. Bullock: "There's no school that doesn't need something."

Being a mediator, Kelly noted, "is fun. It makes you feel good, because you help someone."

(For information on peer mediation, call the diocesan Catholic School Office at 453-6666.)

(09-20-01) [[In-content Ad]]