The Youth Justice Board and the Government’s Children’s Fund in the UK are sponsoring new programs to address misbehaviour in schools. The funding is part of a greater emphasis on using restorative justice by the government. Projects will address bullying, truancy, crimes, and other destructive behaviours, in the expectation that use of restorative processes will reduce the number of students expelled from school each year.
The use of restorative processes in the school setting is not new to the
British landscape. Peer mediation has been used as a response to bullying.
In this process, bullies meet with their victims and a mediator in order to
learn the impact of their behaviour and seek ways of change. ‘Circle time’
is used in many classrooms to allow students a safe place to express
feelings, fears or ideas while learning the rules of respect and listening
to others. The new programs build on the positive results seen from these
practices.
In August 2001, the Youth Justice Board funded a Restorative Justice in
Schools project in two schools in Hammersmith, Fulham and the London Borough
of Lambeth. As of March 2003, the project had held 132 conferences, 70% of
which enabled students to continue going to school instead of being
excluded. With positive results for both the victims and offenders in these
cases, the Youth Justice Board decided to expand Restorative Justice in
Schools initiative in February 2003 with youth offending teams in
Oxfordshire, Medway, N Lincs, Somerset, Blackpool, Rhonda, and Barnet
receiving funding to run restorative conferences in schools.
The UK use of restorative justice is one example to be found around the
world. For example, Douglass Elementary School in Boulder, included
restorative justice as one tool against bullying in its 2002-2003 School
Improvement Plan. In Australia, schools in New South Wales and Queensland
are also using restorative processes to respond to discipline issues.
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Resources Used:
Cameron, Lisa
And Thorsborne, Margaret. (1998). Restorative Justice and School
Discipline: Mutually Exclusive?. Education Queensland and Transformative
Justice Australia.
Curtis,
Polly. 2003. Countdown to Year Zero. Education Guardian Weekly. Guardian
Unlimited. 3 June 2003. Downloaded 24 September 2003.
Douglass Elementary School. School Improvement Plan for the 2002 to 2003
School System.
Henry, Polly. 2003. Bullies to be Judged by Their Victims and Classmates in
School Courts. 18 May. News.telegraph.co.uk. Downloaded 24 September
2003.
Home
Office. (2003). Restorative Justice: the Government's Strategy. A
Consultation document on the Government's Strategy on Restorative Justice.
London: Home Office. Downloaded 21 August 2003
Lord Warner. 2003. Speech at the Secondary Heads Association Conference,
Hilton Birminham Metropole. 29 March. Youth Justice Board. Downloaded 24
September 2003.
New
South Wales Education Inquiry: Final Report. Chapter 5
Restorative Justice In Schools Initiative to be Extended. Youth Justice
Board. Downloaded 24 September 2003.
October 2003
