The Restorative Justice School Project is offered to all students.

Restorative Justice School Project
Eases Community Tensions

A multifaceted school program supported by a Tangible Love grant is providing a peacemaking atmosphere in a St. Louis, Missouri, area rife with violence.

The Restorative Justice School Project is teaching students at Long Middle School to interact with respect. As the program is implemented, an environment is emerging that accepts diversity, promotes accountability, attempts to repair harm, and builds a safe community.

The impetus began with a February 2006 survey of 1,250 teachers in the St. Louis area on school violence during the 2005–06 school year. The shocking results: 77 percent had experienced or witnessed violent behavior; 25 percent had seen knives, guns, or other weapons at school: and 16 percent said students or parents had assaulted them. School violence had become a recurring, dangerous problem. In 2006, Long Middle, with an enrollment of 426, saw an increase in conflict and violence.

Long has a diverse population. The Bevo Mill area, where the school sits, is a rich mix of African-American, Bosnian, Roma, and African, among many other cultures. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported in February 2004 that estimates of refugees fleeing war or persecution now may constitute 10 percent of the city’s estimated 333,000 residents. If newly arriving immigrants, especially Mexicans and Central Americans, also are considered, the percentage would be significantly higher.

A talking piece is passed around the peace circle..

The mix creates a wonderfully diverse area, but it can bring difficulties as the community tries to blend its many cultural aspects. In addition, the refugee population requires time to adjust to its new community in the United States. Members bring differing views surrounding education, community, and communication.

These difficulties are spilling into the community at Long Middle. Many students, simply acting the way they were raised, are having difficulty adjusting to the school environment and scholastic expectations. Many difficulties take the form of conflict and violence.

Enter the Restorative Justice School Project. It began in the fall of 2007, continued that entire school year, and resumed for the 2008–2009 school year. Initially the program was offered to all sixth-grade students at Long Middle. As the success grew, the school requested that the program expand to all students.

The project begins by training teachers in restorative-justice: holding people accountable for their actions, attempting to repair the harm to victims, involving all stakeholders in repairing the harm, and building a safe community that embraces and maintains peace. In addition, teachers are encouraged to find and communicate the strengths they see in students. This allows the children to draw on these strengths as they face adversity and conflict.

Activities are used to teach students how everyone is connected.

Also, the students are provided with peace circles, facilitated by the teacher. The circles utilize a talking piece, which is passed to students, allowing them to express themselves without interruption or criticism. The peace circles give the students a voice in the class, and they build group cohesion.
The Restorative Justice School Project also incorporates a two-part, prevention-programming piece. Beginning in the fall, the students work as detectives, building skills in communication, listening, identifying the harm toward a victim, and developing strategies to repair the harm. This fun, CSI-esque program engages the students at many levels as they solve the mystery of rectifying a harmful situation.

In the spring the second part teaches deep skills in communication, empathy, respect, diversity, openness, inclusion, responsibility, accountability, and repairing harm. The lessons also provide open dialogue that allows students to teach each other.

The program’s final piece is restorative circles for students who have been removed from the school community for various infractions. A trained volunteer implements the circle. The facilitator receives the referral from the school and contacts each person involved. A circle, again using a talking piece, allows people to express their feelings. A plan is formed to repair the harm, and the volunteer monitors the follow-through. This allows the student to return to school in a positive manner.

Through this program the students learn to create a peaceful community that embraces diversity. Students learn to resolve conflict peacefully and to re-enter school from a suspension by accepting responsibility for their behavior and leaving that behavior behind.

The Restorative Justice School Project was developed through Community Conflict Services, composed of volunteer organizations working together to create peaceful communities.

—Meg Petri reporting