Facing away from each other, seniors Blessing Orji and Max Ortiz read aloud a possible situation that may occur between two students. Orji and Ortiz are a part of a student mediation group that was created in the middle of the second six weeks. Members of the new group were required to attend training with LIGHT counselor Karen Gordon and then received their certificates on Nov. 5.
“I went to a workshop one time,” Gordon said. “I wasn’t sure if I would be comfortable having students mediate with other students, but I absolutely thought it was fantastic.”
When Gordon proposed the idea of a mediation club to the Mentors, the students who were interested went on to training.
“I went to training for 15 hours [on different days],” Ortiz said. “We went in there, talked to Mrs. Gordon and played out different scenarios.”
With many hours of training, the students are learning how to approach different problems and solve them.
“Practicing at first was awkward, because without experience, you don’t know what to do until you actually do it,” Ortiz said.
While Ortiz learned from the training that everybody reacts differently, Orji took the training to heart.
“At the beginning of the training I was kind of shy, and I didn’t talk to the class,” Orji said. “I just watched people listen to people. Toward the middle of it, I started to interact with people.”
Gordon said that her students are now seeing and understanding the different ways people react.
“I’m hoping that it will make a measurable impact on the behavior and discipline here,” Gordon said. “I believe that most disputes are based on misunderstanding.”
The mediators are trained to deal with problems such as relationships, family, students, dress code and violence.
“If something happens to where we are uncomfortable with the situation, we’re allowed to stop the mediation there and continue, if they want to, later with another mediation,” Ortiz said.
Hesitating to be a student helping a student, Ortiz isn’t too sure if the student being mediated will react professionally.
“[Students with behavioral issues] are disrespectful,” Orji said. “So to be a mediator, you have to be patient with them, calm them, try to communicate and make sure they know you’re listening to them.”
Even though the student mediators haven’t begun interviewing with real students’ issues, Gordon can already see a difference in them.
“Already they see things differently,” Gordon said. “They’ve already learned some skills, and I know that they are using them in the classroom, at home and with their friends.”
While Gordon believes the mediation group will be a little slow at first, she thinks the members will soon prove themselves so more people will want their services.
“I think the teachers are going to be open to that,” Gordon said. “I think that it’s going to change the dynamics between how students see teachers and how teachers see some of their students.”