Student-Led Restorative Justice at BUHS
BUHS is a school where students are given opportunities to directly influence the quality of the school culture. Now in its 11th year the Restorative Justice program helps to resolve certain disciplinary problems.
What is Restorative Justice (RJ)?
Restorative Justice is an approach which focuses on repairing damaged relationships as a result of school rule violations. This differs from the traditional approach of focusing on punishing the student involved. With RJ, students are still held accountable for their actions but are also engaged in a process which challenges them to look at:
Who was harmed and how relationships were damaged by their actions, including community impact?
How they can repair those relationships?
What they can do to prevent recurring problems?
How is Restorative Justice used at BUHS?
Students volunteer to participate in specialized training in Restorative Justice and are organized into Student-Led RJ Panels. Each panel is composed of 2 to 3 members. When a student commits certain rule violations, school administrators or other staff have the option of referring the offending student to these panels. The panels then guide the offending student, and those impacted by the incident, through an RJ process. If the offending student successfully completes the process, then the normal consequences are reduced or eliminated. The process is entirely run by panel members, with the RJ coordinator serving as an advisor.
What is required to be a panel member?
Students from all grades, backgrounds and interests are encouraged to participate. Ideally, we will have a diverse pool of about 20 students trained at all times. There are no academic requirements; however, to be an effective panel member you must be willing to:
How do you get involved?
Contact Mike Szostak, the RJ Coordinator at 802-451-3434 or email mszostak@wsesu.org
What is Restorative Justice (RJ)?
Restorative Justice is an approach which focuses on repairing damaged relationships as a result of school rule violations. This differs from the traditional approach of focusing on punishing the student involved. With RJ, students are still held accountable for their actions but are also engaged in a process which challenges them to look at:
Who was harmed and how relationships were damaged by their actions, including community impact?
How they can repair those relationships?
What they can do to prevent recurring problems?
How is Restorative Justice used at BUHS?
Students volunteer to participate in specialized training in Restorative Justice and are organized into Student-Led RJ Panels. Each panel is composed of 2 to 3 members. When a student commits certain rule violations, school administrators or other staff have the option of referring the offending student to these panels. The panels then guide the offending student, and those impacted by the incident, through an RJ process. If the offending student successfully completes the process, then the normal consequences are reduced or eliminated. The process is entirely run by panel members, with the RJ coordinator serving as an advisor.
What is required to be a panel member?
Students from all grades, backgrounds and interests are encouraged to participate. Ideally, we will have a diverse pool of about 20 students trained at all times. There are no academic requirements; however, to be an effective panel member you must be willing to:
- Treat everyone with respect, even when their views differ from yours.
- Keep an open mind and listen to all points of view without prejudging.
- Keep information confidential.
- Hold students accountable for their actions.
- Communicate with students in an honset and supportive manner.
- Provide feedback and accept constructive feedback.
- Honor the commitments you make.
- Be restorative vs. punitive.
- Devote up to 1 hour per week to RJ activities.
How do you get involved?
Contact Mike Szostak, the RJ Coordinator at 802-451-3434 or email mszostak@wsesu.org
Your choice, your actions, our community...Reshaping our school community through accountability."
Community Partners
The Brattleboro Union High School Restorative Justice program partners with the Brattleboro Community Justice Center. Visit the BCJC online for more information.
|
Mike SzostakRestorative Justice CoordinatorI have spent the last 20 years doing some form of restorative justice work and it has become an integral part of my life and my passion. For the past 11 years, I have run our Restorative Justice Program at BUHS. Basically, our program is a way of dealing with students who break school rules to help them learn from the experience and to repair the relationships that have been damaged. This approach focuses on:
Who was harmed by what happened? What was the impact on those individuals and the community? How can that harm be repaired or reduced? What can be done to prevent this situation from reoccurring? |