Restorative Justice...

6/3/2013

Schools in Chicago are trying to combat major issues of violence occurring at area schools, which have included an honors student being beaten to death on tape in 2009. Since that time, area schools have turned to something called “Restorative Justice.”

Restorative Justice is a process which focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment. An offending student, rather than simply receiving detention or being suspended, must face a panel of students and teachers to talk out the issues which led to the violent act… during this process the offending student must face a “peer jury” which decides the punitive actions to be taken against the offender. These break-out sessions can run from 40 minutes to two honors. The results have been promising.

Violence has been reduced at area schools, suspension is down, graduation rates are up, and gang related crime is on the decrease as well. The students and teachers are assisted by professional conflict resolution councilors who are trained at dealing with gang members and youth with a history of violence.

Most educators know that suspension does not work… yet often it is the only recourse administration has in order to keep the student population safe from violent members of the student body. Restorative Justice may be a feasible alternative. If such a program can work in an area like Chicago which faces major gang and drug activity and huge dropout rates, it can surly be effective in little ole’ Warwick, Rhode Island.

Thoughts?

Danika Wayss Period 6

6/3/2013 12:17:07 am

When I first read this over I questioned if there there was any point in it (I mean it was a cool idea but I questioned if it really showed results) but if it is showing results and is seeming to work thats pretty awsome. Besides would you really think a student who causes trouble around school cares about being suspended. No. Ask any students and they will tell you the same. The only problem I can see come from this would be that the schools would become so dependent on this new system, get results, and then have to go back to the old system because they do not have enough money.

Nicole Morales Period 6

6/3/2013 01:11:06 am

I think that this could be a good idea, but I just don't understand how people have time for it. It is a good thing that they make time because it is important that there is not a lot of things like fighting in the school and it is good that the jury allows the people in the fight to give their sides of the stories. When this year's funding comes to an end and the program goes back to just suspending and detentions, then it will be interesting to see the rate of graduations go down and the fighting go up if that is what will happen.

Jacob P1

6/3/2013 05:04:21 am

this plan seems to be working out really well for these area schools. Now if only we can have this sort of thing in our schools because I also believe it could really help certain students. For example, today wen I was walking to your class after lunch, there was a kid in front of me that was yelling to one of his friends across the hallway saying "We'll meet up this Friday and get cocked and **** and we'll smoke and have a great time........Hit me up." and I'm just thinking maybe all this kid needs is to be put in to a court type thing that the schools in Chicago have and maybe he will stop doing this sort of thing.

Mackenzie Egan Period 6

6/3/2013 08:31:55 am

I agree that suspensions don't work at all. All it does is send a student home for a few days or even a week. People who i know who got suspended before say they don't care because they rather be home than school. It didn't affect them one bit. I think what their doing is because it actually have an affect on them, and make them change their ways to something good, unlike dentition and suspension.

Alexis Lavallee period 5

6/3/2013 09:41:25 am

I think Restorative Justice is a great alternative to the average punishments. Students who are violent usually are the ones who could care less about school and what punishment they receive. Putting them in detention for a few hours or suspending them for a couple of days won't teach them a lesson. I think this program can actually change the perspective of the student, and I'm impressed that it's actually reducing the violence in these schools. Maybe we should adopt this process at our school.

Travis period 6

6/3/2013 11:32:59 am

I feel like if a kid is doing bad stuff and is there hes not going to just listen to them. There probably going to just attempt to do anything to not go or just leave. In that situation they are going to feel anger and just will not cooperate with them.

Ethan Miller Period 6

6/3/2013 08:43:53 pm

This is actually very amazing. I have to say myself the kids in the school in Chicago are amazing. They're standing up for something that they believe in and they're also going to be apart of it. I always feel like the people that wanted to the most always end up doing less and the credit goes to someone else. Also, these kids that are being bad or doing something theyre not supposed to need to be told not to do it again. And suspension and detention won't cut it anymore. I feel like this generation keeps getting worse and worse and I'm so afraid that violence is just going to take over everything. I'm so glad that something is finally being done about it.

Claudia Period 6

6/3/2013 09:32:46 pm

This seems like a good system and apparently it works for that school. It seems a lot more effective than the usual punishments because it actually makes those kids think about what they've done instead of having them stay home a few days. A lot of the time, the kids who'll get into trouble are the ones who don't always come to school andyway.

Jonathan Provencal Period 4

6/3/2013 09:39:17 pm

I am surprised that I never heard about this before. It's sad that an honors student was killed but I find it weird that it's on tape. I don't know if someone was filming it or whether it was caught by school surveillance cameras.

Gabriel Diplan Period 4

6/3/2013 09:44:35 pm

Suspension doesn't affect kids at all. All kids want are days off from school. I also think kids would not cooporate with others and would just be angry and want to leave this meeting.

Ryan Grundy Per.4

6/3/2013 09:45:42 pm

I think that it was a good idea to give a court like way to find out what will be the punishment for crimes. however i think it wont work for smaller things like talking back or something like that.

mitchel

6/3/2013 09:51:10 pm

Matt Carney Per.4

6/3/2013 09:50:20 pm

This seems like a good system. It has shown to be effective at those schools. It makes kids think of what they have done and why they did it. It is better than having students sit at home because they got suspended.

julio per4

6/3/2013 09:55:21 pm

this will not work because most kids that get in trouble do not come to school anyways. The kids will never take this serious

julio per4

6/7/2013 12:06:23 pm

Julio I believe that is a
untrue statement

Nicole Langlois period 4

6/3/2013 09:55:38 pm

I think after reading this that Restoratove Justice is a really good idea. If something like this can prevent a big city like Chicago with much higher drug usage, crime rates etc. then it can most likely have a big impact on a smaller city like Warwick, Rhode Island. It can teach kids to not do bad things that get them in trouble and hopefully have more respect that they didn't have before. I think suspension, which is Pilgrim's usual punishment is ridiculous and does not do anything or teach us a lesson. I know people who were actually happy to gget suspended if it meant for them to get a break for school.

Nick Yehle (per. 4)

6/3/2013 10:09:24 pm

I think this a good idea for all the kids. Even though suspending a student dosent really do anything i think this is a good alternitive to keep everyone safe whether its a student or a teacher. If this went in a affect in Warwick RhodeIsland i think that everyone would think differently then they do now and think about what they were about to do. So if it happend i would like it.

Mitchell period 4

6/3/2013 10:10:57 pm

This program is a good idea. Suspension doesn't work because they are taking kids out of school as a punishment but kids don't want to be in school anyway. So, if they had to do go through this whole talking thing when they get in trouble then they might not do it again.

Brandon Lawton Period 6

6/3/2013 11:21:19 pm

This is a great idea because most kids enjoy the suspension punishment. They don't have to go to school and I'm sure some students try to get suspended so they don't have to go to school. Chicago is doing something good because they are keeping the kids in school and trying to solve their behavioral problems. Maybe more schools need to try this because it obviously works.

Dylan Period 6

6/3/2013 11:22:21 pm

I think this program is a good idea because if kids actually talk about what they did they can try to find a solution to their problem. Also it seems to have worked well in Chicago considering that graduation rates are up and gang related violence is down. Maybe this program could eventually come to "Lil ol Warwick"

Christina Genuario Period 6

6/3/2013 11:23:17 pm

I think that this is a good idea. Suspension doesn't work because the student suspended thinks of it as a little break rather than a punishment. If this system was introduced at Pilgrim and other schools in Warwick, it would do a lot of good to protect students and fairly punish troublemakers.

Daniel Pietrantonio Period 6

6/3/2013 11:24:36 pm

I think that this is a good idea because it will help make violent students less likely to do bad things for several reasons. First of all I dont think to many students would be happy talking to a jury of their peers about there feelings. Secondly maybe after people find out why the student did whatever they did they could help them get help so they wont do it again.

Daniel Peladeau Period 6

6/3/2013 11:28:22 pm

I think that this program would work because the normal suspension doesn't work because most of the students that get in trouble don't want to be in school anyway. So, this therapy sort of thing will greatly help the students rehabilitate and maybe not act out the next time they are in school. Also, the students probably won't want to talk about their actions for a few hours, so they would try not to do bad things just to stay away from these therapy sessions. This will definitely be a great program in the future as long as it keeps getting funded by the government.

Julia Period 6

6/3/2013 11:30:11 pm

When I first read this I was a little surprised but i wondered if it would work and since it does i think it is a great idea and i think that talking about the issue instead of fighting about is great. I think more schools should do this because this program shows more graduations and a lot more schools need this.

Sophie period 6

6/3/2013 11:33:48 pm

I think that this is a good idea because detention and suspension do not work with students. "Repeat offenders" have gotten used to it and and actually do not mind it anymore. Students care more about what their friends say than what their teachers say. After they find out why the student did what they did teachers might be able to help the student.

Leah Fitz-Simon Period 6

6/3/2013 11:56:55 pm

Why don't more schools in the country have this system. It is better to work out the problem and make the child talk about his or her problem and helping them through it than just suspending them. These kids would rather be home than in school anyway, so this is a much better system or thing to do instead of just suspending the kid and giving them what they want.

Austin period 1

6/4/2013 07:48:30 am

This is quite interesting and I know that I would rather be suspended then go through this so I can see why it works so well. Also you know how I love to point errors in your PowerPoint's I noticed a mistake here to when you said "These break-out sessions can run from 40 minutes to two honors." were you said honors instead of hours.

Christian Gamez Period 5

6/5/2013 05:05:18 am

In my opinion this would work in schools all over the country , but only for serious acts worth a large punishment for. Suspension and in house suspension does not work anymore seeing how it gets students out of classes. Teachers should find a punishment that actually works.

Kailyn Carr

6/5/2013 05:14:09 am

It is nice to hear that some of the outreach programs are finally working in these school systems! Too often ambitious new teaching/discipline styles fail, or do not accomplish what they initially set out to achieve. I don’t know if Warwick specifically needs a program like this, however, it could be very useful in inner-city schools in places like Pawtucket, Providence and Woonsocket. Maybe they will learn from this and apply these ideals to troubled areas nation wide.

Ethan Schneider period 1

6/5/2013 10:15:24 am

Its cool to know the teachers care about the students that much and it probably makes the students feel good too. I really think Suspension really does not work kids think its cool when they can just stay home and not go to school all day.

Rebecca Per. 2

6/5/2013 11:21:44 pm

Having a peer jury is a very good idea to determine the fate of students. I think that if the teachers care about the students that much to try and get to the root of the problem, rather than just suspending them, then that's great. But the students also have to care a little bit. If they choose suspension, then that's their own problem. I mean, what kid who gets in trouble all the time wouldn't want a legitimate excuse to stay home from school?

Mikaela Period 1

6/6/2013 07:24:54 am

This is a very good idea. We know that this will work for Rhode Island because we have tested it so why not have it other places? This has helped the rate of many fights, gangs, and drop outs. Basically many people have been more focused on school than anything else. We should try this in more states considering it helped us.

Steven Johnson period 6

6/6/2013 10:06:13 am

I think that this system is very beneficial for kids these days. By just suspending students they are not really learning any lesson, they are just getting free days out of school. With this program students can actually talk out why they did something wrong and maybe learn from their mistake next time

Sarah Reilly Per.2

6/6/2013 09:56:29 pm

I think this is a great way to get to the root of problems that happen in school and let all of the truth come out. But somehow I feel that the kids won't be will to just breakdown and talk about their problems they would probably rather take the suspension over a sappy heart to heart about what causes them to to get in trouble.

Sam Malm period 1

6/6/2013 11:24:47 pm

This idea is a good thing to have in today's schools. Since suspenson causes some students to possibly keep getting suspended, reforming the violating students would be better anyway

Bryant Per.5

6/7/2013 04:18:56 am

This seems to be effective which is great but I see a flaw in the system. Students may have relationships with the student being punished or may have something against them; this could be a way for some kids to get back at other kids for past conflicts. I know there are definitely some students I wouldn’t want to have deciding what punishment I were to get if I was in trouble.

Oanh nguyen period 5

6/7/2013 07:28:03 am

I think we should try out this system. I never get detention or suspending kids because I don't think it will do much of an effect to how they act afterwards. Some students are even happy that they get suspended, it means no school for them. Through this, kids who do bad things will get what they deserve. It's showing positive feedback so I think Warwick should try out this system.

Andrea Henninger, period 5

6/7/2013 08:02:19 am

This is a very interesting concept, and is a great idea. I totally can understand why it is working so well, because that must be awful for the student who is in trouble to have to go in front of a panel of teachers, and sometimes peers and talk about what they did. I really can understand why they would not want to do anything wrong, and I think that Warwick should definitely try it since it worked so well in Chicago, because suspending someone really does not work.

tiana Dickenson Per. 4

6/7/2013 11:15:23 am

I think this is a really good idea. I always thought that it was useless suspending or expelling a student beacuase the people who suspend/expell the wrong-doer think they are solving the problem but all they are doing is delaying or moving the problem away...setting it aside until the next time they have to deal with it. However, if i understand correctly, this idea is to help the student get through their conflict and try to stop any future potential problems.

Gabbie Demers period 5

6/7/2013 12:00:10 pm

This is a good idea if you ask me, although there are some problems I see that could arise, overall the idea is great, I think the students that act up look at suspension as a reward, a full day or more out of school is how they see it. I would love to hear more about it And even see it applied to our district because it would be something I would enjoy doing and learning more about!

Victoria Period 5

6/7/2013 01:50:29 pm

This is actually a very unique approach to punishment. In a way I could see it working, but in other ways I could see it being seen as a joke to students who often do not care anyways. I question what kind of punishments this "student jury" gives. The idea could be promising in other areas, but I'm curious as what the jury gives a punishment to these troubled teens.

Katie Lundin period 6

6/14/2013 05:43:55 am

I think this is a great program that obviously has more positive results than just suspending a student. when students are suspended what are they learning from that? nothing, which means the will continue do the actions which lead them to be suspended in the first place. I think students at pilgrim wouldn't take it seriously at first but as soon as they're put on "trial" things might change around here.

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