Peer Mediation Research Policy Memo

/ 17 December 2012

As a major portion of the Local and Regional Governance class I took this semester (that within 24 hours will be completed!) we had to write a research policy memo. This was to be written to a specific legislator or bureaucrat from pretty much any interested party’s perspective. Our professor liked the notion of me jumping of the work done last semester on peer mediation, so I’ve treated this research policy memo as a second part to that project. As such both papers can be found at the webpage originally put together for last semester’s research paper. Where the paper Patrick Buller and I wrote looks at the history of peer mediation and compares Avalon’s program with its peers this memo that I alone authored takes Avalon’s program and discusses issues surrounding using it as a model for a statewide peer mediation program for all state high schools. One paper looks back while the other looks forward. I wrote this memo as if it were to be sent to Dr. Brenda Cassellius, the Commissioner of Education for the State of Minnesota, while putting myself in the shoes of Program Coordinator (/Math teacher) at Avalon. Especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting this past Friday (not that peer mediation would have directly aided in creating a different outcome there) schools need constructive conflict resolution. What kinds of adults might the current disciplinary tactics create? Potentially some more prone to doing damage to the tune of killing over a dozen innocent young elementary school students. Both papers go hand-in-hand as part of a unified whole project. Feel free to leave comments on the paper(s) here or by reaching out to me in other ways.

Discussion