Peer Mediation
By terry l. norton

Their posters are up all around the school calling on fellow students to mediate not fight.
Eleven Caroline Middle School students are qualified peer mediators for a new program, which was ready to go when school reopened on Jan. 2. By the end of the first week, three teams had mediated three situations.

The teams of two mediators change so everyone has the opportunity of working with everyone else, according to Mentor Lorri McManus. That way each mediator has the opportunity to develop and strengthen his or her own skills.

Youth Prevention Specialist for the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board Patty Lucado assists McManus with the group of 8th graders and provides refresher training. She has been present each day the first week. As time goes on, she will be at the school only on Tuesdays and Fridays.

If the situations are not solved in mediation, they go to Principal Reginald Underwood. McManus said she allows two opportunities for students to resolve the problem through their peers.

The mediators are eager and excited about what they are doing and see it as helpful not only for their work at school, but also for their own lives. They said that, in the 12-hour training presented by Timothy Ruebke of the Communications Mediation Center (CMC) of Harrisonburg, they learned how to deal with different problems ñ internal conflicts, external conflicts and what starts them.

If the mediators have a conflict McManus helps them resolve the problem. She also said she has seen them grow in just a week.

Mediator Tramaine Bandy said it is becoming an every day thing for him. He used his training at home when his brother got into an argument with a friend.

Mediator Ronnae Thompson said she was surprised she was accepted into the mediator program due to her past behavior. She knows she had a bad attitude and has seen that changing.

The Tuesday club session lasts two hours, during which the group does mock cases, practice, talk about mediations held in the past week and listen to music and enjoy snacks to ease stress.

As a club, they are responsible for getting out the word of their existence to fellow students. McManus said they made their posters and are creating a rap for a commercial on CMS News. The mediators also have T-shirts to point them out to students and faculty.

Since this yearís mediators are moving on to high school, they are considering what they will face and the lack of peer mediation where they are going.

LaNae Pendleton is planning on going to Spotsylvania H.S., which does not have peer mediation. She hopes to get them to start it.

Next yearís mediators will go through the training during summer school again by the CMC, according to McManus.

Each one stated a desire to learn and help. They want CMS to be a good and safe school and are grateful to their mentors and the administration for making this possible.
"Do a Shout out,"Thompson said. "We have very good mentors, who help a lot and help with our own problems."

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