Region Information
Students Gain Valuable Leadership Skills at Peer Mediation Forum
Resolving problems peacefully is a skill some people never master, even over the course a lifetime.
But more than 250 students from 20 HISD campuses got a head start on learning the art of negotiation when they took part in a Peer Mediation Leadership Forum held on May 5, 2009, by the district’s Character Education and Student Leadership Program.
The students—the majority of whom are new to their roles as peer mediators—signed up to gain new insight into the drawbacks and benefits associated with being a leader among their contemporaries.
Character Education and Student Leadership Program Manager Karen Washington designed the event’s curriculum around two important concepts. “First, as campus leaders, each of these young men and women must understand both the costs and benefits associated with leadership,” she said. “Second, as mediators, they must understand that while conflict is a natural part of our lives, the way we resolve those conflicts has the potential to impact our lives forever.”
Assistant Superintendent of School Support Services Martha Salazar-Zamora encouraged attendees to be willing to take a stand as leaders—in their classrooms, on their campuses, in their homes, and in the community. She noted that the journey that led her to the position she holds today was one fraught with difficulties, but her resolute determination to succeed made her dream a reality. “The skills you are learning as mediators are valuable and can earn you extra income when you enter the workforce,” she told the students.
Judge Hilary Green from Harris County Precinct 7 spoke about the legal consequences imposed on students when destructive conflicts derail their plans, and she identified the main issues that bring young people to her courtroom as uncontrollable anger, truancy, and disrespect for authority figures. “As a matter of fact, I have 200 students your age on my docket today who I will be seeing because of the poor choices they have made. Those cases vary from truancy and drugs to theft and fighting.”
Judge Green also told students that they could be “of immeasurable value” to their peers if they could just help them learn to manage their anger. “I am required to rule according to the law, not according to my emotions,” she told students. “Even adults deal with strong emotions on a daily basis, but we have have spent years learning to manage them.”
And when confronted with a particularly difficult situation in her courtroom, Judge Green explained that experience has taught her to “take a time out” to remove herself from the situation temporarily, so that reason rather than emotion would yield the best result.
Parents who participated in the event developed a newfound appreciation for the work their children are being asked to perform. “I wish every student in HISD could participate in this forum,” said the parent of an Oates Elementary School student. “They all need this information.”
Districtwide implementation of the peer mediation program is planned for the 2009–2010 school year.
