Restorative justice – looking for tips on good experiences with it -

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Restorative justice seems like it offers many rewards – but is that only in theory?

I seek instances were restorative justice was particularly helpful; and what was it that made it so –

There are many factors that vary, for instance do parents/guardians need to be there in order to make it work? If parents and guardians are not present, is it really restorative justice - or just students in an office being told to say sorry.

Does someone have an experience where the bullying ("You're stupid and ugly”)/hitting/pushing/kicking actually diminished after a restorative justice circle?

It does but anything new or different is threatening to the far-right extremists.

Yes, they mostly comfortable with bringing back corporal punishment. Anything else is too experiemental.

[Anonymous]

Just another reason for principals not to support teachers and instead blaming them for not restoring enough justice. When will we teachers get justice restored when we are retaliated for not inflating enough grades in mcps. Mcea we need your support because it's an open secret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Might be useful in ECE. In upper ES and beyond it does not work. Kids need boundaries and consequences. When there are no real consequences they figure it out real quick. A conversation about how they made someone feel and having to apologize is not a consequence.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, it mainly serves as a way to revictimize the victim - there is absolutely no empowerment.

The perpetrator continues, just a little more sneakily.

I finally had to go in to the school and demand that the other child be kept away from my child if the school could not guarantee their protection outside of the classroom (recess, bathrooms, lunchroom, etc.). They complied, but the school still did not actually punish the perpetrator.

This mirrors our experience.

+1. Similar experience as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like RJ can potentially work, but to do it right you need specialized facilitators who are experts at navigating conflict. Those people are uncommon and not cheap, and you probably need at least one per school.

If you can’t pull that off then it’s probably not worth trying RJ. All that funding on consultants and training could be better spent on just hiring more teachers and reducing class sizes.

Oh I so agree with you here. Like RJ can work if the perp has to make amends, like replace or repair damaged property. I hate the idea of pressuring a child victim to talk it out with their bully.