Richard Cohen, founder and director of the School Mediation Associates, distributed a survey last spring on “The State of Peer Mediation 2011” and presented the results in the November issue of The School Mediator. Ninety-nine people responded, about four percent of the journal’s subscribers.
Respondents represent a fairly wide geographic range—25 U.S. states and eight countries. Just over four-fifths of respondents are based in the U.S., and 29 percent of them live and work in Massachusetts, where School Mediation Associates is based.
Respondents could choose more than one descriptor for their role. About half say they coordinate a peer-mediation program. Half also note that they train peer mediators, either in the school in which they are based or on behalf of an outside consulting organization.
Caution is warranted in drawing conclusions from this survey, in part because respondents don’t represent a “scientific” sample—a group that is randomly selected from a target population. The responses came from whoever chose to respond.
Cohen hypothesizes that those who participated in the survey were a more positive group than a scientific sample might produce; those whose programs have died might no longer be responding to (or even reading) The School Mediator.
The most comprehensive sample comes from from Massachusetts (School Mediation Associates’ home state), the state from which came nearly three out of every ten responses. A few clear themes emerge from the responses—the most consistent being that it’s harder than ever for respondents to maintain peer-mediation programs in their schools. Some wrote that their peer-mediation programs have closed altogether; many more say their efforts face an uncertain future, the number one reason for this, unsurprisingly, being lack of funding.
Despite this clear challenge, respondents remained optimistic about the future of their programs. Almost 40 percent reported they think their program will be stronger next year than this year. This optimism was most often expressed by those whose peer-mediation programs were less than five years old. This contrasts rather sharply with the more pessimistic outlook expressed by those who have been associated with peer mediation for more than ten years. These educators, who perhaps remember the headier days of the 1990s, reported that their efforts are much less robust and see the future as uncertain at best.
Cohen reports that the responses from Massachusetts were the gloomiest of all. Nearly 60 percent reported that their peer-mediation efforts were weaker this year than last, and 45 percent thought they would be even worse next year. Questions that arose upon receipt of these data are… Are there conditions unique to this state? If we had received a similar number of responses from another state, would we have heard the same pessimistic outlook? Schools in Massachusetts relied heavily upon the recently eliminated SDFS federal funding to support their peer-mediation programs. Did other states not rely so heavily on these funds? Are there more schools with peer-mediation programs in Massachusetts than in other states?
A significant number of respondents mentioned the amount of attention the issue of bullying is currently receiving. There were divergent opinions regarding the impact this attention is having upon peer mediation. Some expressed a frustration that the focus on bullying has hurt their peer-mediation efforts. Conversely, many wrote that the attention bullying has received has led to greater sensitivity to student conflict in general, which, in turn, has led to more referrals to peer mediation.
Finally, Cohen found that about eight percent of respondents mentioned restorative practices, whether as something that was important to integrate with peer mediation or as a new effort that is reducing enthusiasm for it. Peer mediation has a clear, positive impact on students and schools, as ample research proves. The educational establishment has demonstrated its support by funding the work.
Cohen concluded that there are fewer students mediating in schools than at any time in the past 15 years and that because of this we’ve collectively taken a step backwards. Despite the current gray clouds, he assures the readers that peer mediation is not going away and that new efforts are being initiated in schools around the world each week.
For more information on this study visit www.schoolmediation.com.
