HWP Peer Mediators
Overview
Peer Mediation is a form of conflict resolution in which trained student leaders help their peers work together to resolve everyday disputes.
Interested 5-8th grade students are trained to help other students who are involved in a dispute.
In the peer mediation program, the students involved in a dispute have a chance to sit face to face and talk uninterrupted, with a mediator. Each side of the dispute is heard. After the problem is defined, solutions are created and then evaluated. When the students reach an agreement, they sign a contract.
Peer Mediation Goals
For disputants to understand and respect different points of view
For open and improved communication
To develop cooperation in solving a common problem
To reach agreements that address the interests of both parties
A Peer Mediator Is...
Fair
A good listener
Someone everyone can trust
Concerned with people’s feelings
Someone who treats everyone with respect
Become a Peer Mentor!
If you are interested in helping your peers find win-win solutions and making your school a more cooperative, positive place to be, become a Peer Mediator.
The skills you learn will benefit you and your school now, but will also be valuable to future leadership roles and careers. Training for this important role includes these topics: active listening, personal leadership, communication styles, verbal and non-verbal communication, conflict resolution, and the concrete steps involved in peer mediation.
You do not have to consider yourself a leader already to make a great peer mediator. You just need a willingness to learn and an honest commitment to your peers.