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New school subject: conflict resolution South, Butte Falls, Phoenix plan programs By VICKI GUARINO A growing number of programs go beyond academics to teach public school students how to resolve conflicts. Several schools are preparing to offer new programs and new services this fall, many through the assistance of the nonprofit Mediation Works conflict-resolution center in Medford. This fall, Mediation Works is offering training to volunteers to further expand school programs. The volunteers will be trained to teach conflict-resolution techniques to students, staff and parents. School and Mediation Works staff plan to introduce programs at South Medford High School, Butte Falls schools and Phoenix High School this year. Mediation Works director Ginger Rilling says she hopes to bring some kind of student-led problem solving to Central Point schools as well. The South program will intervene in instances where students have been in trouble but have not broken the law. Rilling says the program focuses on improving behavior by getting youngsters to understand the choices they make and to see the consequences of those choices. The program was piloted at the middle school level last year. At Butte Falls and Phoenix High School, school officials and Mediation Works staff hope to introduce peer mediation. In peer mediation, disputes among students are taken to a student team trained in techniques to resolve conflicts. "Students resolve their own problems," says Phoenix-Talent curriculum director Tim Mobley. "When kids resolve their own problems, they tend to stay resolved." Mobley has eight or nine years of experience with special programs and curriculum that teach students how to deal peacefully with conflict, defuse hostilities and express their own feelings in positive and productive ways. He began as principal of Orchard Hill Elementary School. Along with instituting peer mediation, students and staff were schooled in resolving conflicts informally among themselves. The effort cut in half the number of disciplinary referrals to Mobley's office. Kids became so adept at solving their own disputes that they eventually put the mediation panel out of business, Mobley says. "Kids learning to solve their own problems in creative and appropriate ways is going to become more and more critical," he says. Problem-solving curricula in Phoenix-Talent got a boost three years ago with a $60,000 federal grant. The funding has been important to the district, says Superintendent Dave Willard. "We have a violent society," Willard says. "You don't have to look far to see we have to try some new methods." The grant has paid for training and staff time for dispute resolution programs at Talent Middle School. The biggest hurdle for such programs to overcome is getting the staff to coordinate and oversee the student efforts, says Mobley. The effort also addressed hazing, teasing and other kinds of harassment. "We've worked really hard to try to get rid of that," Willard says. The skills learned in such programs extend far beyond school grounds, says Mediation Works administrator Nancy Goldman. "It's really communication skills," says Goldman. "It's not a school skill; it's a life skill." Because conflict resolution skills extend benefits throughout the community, Mediation Works staff want to enlist the support of local businesses. Business sponsors could underwrite the cost of training more volunteers and school staff members to work with students. Training for adult volunteers interested in school programs will take place from 1-6 p.m. Sept. 17 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 18. For additional information about the programs, call Mediation Works, 770-2468. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA