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The Huron Expositor, 1994-09-21, Page 37WnVZ 1S -TNI HURON eXPOSITON, $•ptsmbar 28, 11194 Education DAVID SCOTT PHOTO PARTNERS IN PEACE - Dr. Connie Edwards, mediator, left, Chuck Rowland, Superintendent of Schools for the Huron County Board of Education, and Marie Parsons, principal of Wingham Public School and Chair of the Conflict Resolutio Committee look over a copy of the Creative Conflict Resoluticl in the Schools report which was discussed in a three-day workshop with Huron County teachers held at the Belgrave Community Centre. Huron schools examine ways to prevent violence BY DAVID SCOTT Expositor Staff Peaceful mediation is being looked at as a method of conflict resolution for students in Huron County schools. _ Thirty-seven representatives from Huron County elementary sch6ols participated in a unique three-day (Thursday to Saturday) workshop dealing with Creative Conflict Res- olution in the Schools. Dr.. Connie Edwards of the Conflict Resolution Institute guided teachers through role-playing and examples of con- flicts commonly encountered in school settings. Chuck Rowland, Superintendent of Schools for the Huron County Board of Education was at the three-day conference on Thursday. "This conference fits in with our initiative started last year to have safe schools. We have to teach children how to resolve conflicts. We're having adults trained as mediators who will go back and train teachers and children," said Rowland. The 'Peace Makers' program will be eventually introduced to all Huron County elementary students. Rowland said if you want zero tolerance of violence in schools you have to teach people how to get to that goal. "It's a way of achieving a violent -free school system." This conference involved repre- sentative mainly from north Huron schools. The remainder of the county will be covered during the school year. "Teachers arc facing the whole continuum of violence from a nasty look to weapons," said Dr. Connie Edwards, who has a background in elementary and secondary school teaching as well as university -level instruction. Edwards works as a professional mediator. "You don't even have to ask the question, 'Is safety a concern in schools?' The answer is yes...More in some schools than others," she said. Peer mediation is a process towards teaching all children in all schools conflict resolutions. "You have to give them the skills to deal with conflict," said the mediator. "It helps them view conflict resol- ution in different ways. Traditional ways tend to be negative and not always appropriate. People can resolve conflicts in non -adversarial ways," said Edwards. This is just one application of a process which is currently being done inside and outside the criminal justice system, according to the mediator. More "If 1 blame, I don't have to take any responsibility..." and more mediation centres are being opened in Canada and the U.S. For example, these are places neighbours can go who are having disputes to settle them instead of battling things out in courts. "Peer mediation is just an applica- tion of a bigger system." Edwards heard comments and answered questions from participat- ing teachers after their role-playing sessions. Ideally Edwards likes to meet with both disputants involved in a conflict before mediation. The mediator listens to each side of the story separately then brings them together for a mediation. Mediation is a new term to many students. "When you say to kids, 'I offer you the choice of going to peer mediation,' you have to let kids know it's not 'meditation' or even 'medication,"' joked Edwards. One of the aspects of conflict resolution is trying to get students not to blame others. "If I blame, I don't have to take any responsibil- ity," said Edwards. "You have to help kids make the shift to, 'I did this...'" One teacher asked what to do if you have two children who are constantly in conflict and their two families are warring as well. "It's a judgement call. Mediation might be possible. You could start with the kids. The secondary players - the parents, are part of the war but could sabotage any agreement the kids have," said Edwards. "Maybe in one situation you could let parents know of the agree- ment (of the children) or call them in," said Edwards. With that sort of situation there's a variety of approaches that could be taken. What do the participating teachers think of the three-day workshop? "It teaches kids how to solve their own problems instead of depending on teachers," said Jane Morton, who teaches grade eight in Exeter. "We can hopefully take back a process that works on the empowerment of the student. It gives them the responsibility of the situation. We have to create the awareness of the difference between negotiation and mediation. We deal on a day-to-day basis with negoti- ation. We need to move to media- tion," said Bill Teall of Seaforth, who teaches rade five and six at Brussels Public School. II We believe in gyou service... ivin our best... 9 At Hart Ford Mercury we believe we offer you the best service we can. To stand behind that belief we are offering you over $500, worth of service for $69.95 including taxes. The idea behind this is simple, we want your business. We believe once you come in to our service department you will be so pleased you won't want to go anywhere else. This offer has good value for you and for us. We will be selling this door to door in the Seaforth area and are presenting it here for you to see up close if it's for you. If we miss you and you would like to take advantage of this money saving offer please call or drop in to our service centre. 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Here the crowd watches the !Myth Christian Puppeteers.