Restorative Justice Circles in Therapeutic Boarding Schools

May 13, 2013

Lisa Hester, the Director of Student Life at Boulder Creek Academy (BCA) in Idaho was Lon Woodbury's guest today on Parent Choices for Struggling Teens, discussing the merits of "Restorative Justice" circles and how they are used at BCA, a therapeutic boarding school. "Restorative Justice Circles are a way to manage conflict among students, shared Lisa. In the circles, the students learn empathy and understanding and feelings that are brought up by the interactions in the circle are then shared and addressed. When an altercation or argument occurs, a "circle" is then called to address the problem. Those that attend the circle are open to those that were impacted by the event; this can include staff and other students whose feeling have been triggered by the event. These feelings often include fear, helplessness or for some, they turn inward and hide to avoid the conflict."

While in the circle, there are specific agreements students learn in addressing the issue: they must speak from their own perspective and have "uninterrupted" time to speak. For the other students who were not part of the argument but were impacted by it, can share what they observed only, from their perspective and state what they witnessed. "What happens, is usually the two that were involved, forget others have feelings about the incident and most of the time the main reason for these arguments are misinterpretations and lack of communication."

Lon brought up the subject of bullying that is running rampant in the schools and asked how this was addressed. At BCA, they use the term conflict and their definition is "clear negative, unwanted and repeated behavior, a constant picking on someone, hitting or kicking and creating social isolation." For some students, they use verbal power as a way to bully, repeatedly using words as a verbal assault. "We use the circles to address these behaviors and work with the students, helping them to not be victims."

Lisa then shared some examples of students who have used restorative justice circles, the process's they went through and the outcome of the work done in these groups. Often, with the use of the circles, students can get to a point to rebuild their relationships with each other and create lasting friendships.

To listen to the full interview, go to Restorative Justice Circles in Therapeutic Boarding Schools on LATalkRadio.
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Lon Woodbury is the owner/founder of Woodbury Reports, Inc. and www.strugglingteens.com. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984 and is the host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens.

Lisa Hester is the director of student life at Boulder Creek Academy and has been with them for over two years. She has worked with children for more than 25 years, working for state human services division where she worked with children who have been sexually abused and provided treatment and counseling and family mediation. She has also been a life skills coordinator in a foster care setting. Lisa completed her undergraduate studies at Central Michigan University and has obtained her master's degree in Social Work from the University of Denver.

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Randy Russell: "Who Am I? Our Journey Through Life

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