To renovate a house, you need a hammer. For certain tasks, a hammer is essential. But it would be lunacy to think that you could refurbish an entire house with a hammer alone.… read this issue >>

I sometimes hear the expression "stop playing God" used to criticize a person who arrogantly makes decisions for others or orders them around. It uses an image of God as boss, and not a very nice boss at that.… read this issue >>

Yes, mediators compete seems like an oxymoron. But in Australia, teams of student mediators and role-players do compete, and they do so before adjudicators who determine which teams are best.… read this issue >>

I recently received a copy of Meghan Lennon's college essay, in which she describes how peer mediation changed her life. It was sent to me by Randi Orpen, peer mediation coordinator/Spanish teacher at Woburn High School in Massachusetts. Meghan is one of Randi's student mediators.… read this issue >>

The most enjoyable part of publishing "The School Mediator" is hearing from you, educators from all over the world who are applying peer mediation where you live. It astonishes me that this concept is now working within stable democracies as well as in countries emerging from dictatorship or civil war; in the most densely populated cities as well as in rural villages; within an environment of relative wealth as well as one of extreme poverty.… read this issue >>

One of the reasons I was initially attracted to peer mediation was the sense that participating in mediation changed disputants: that in addition to resolving the conflict at hand, parties learned new skills and behaviors that they could apply to future conflicts. For many years, however, there was little qualitative proof that any of the benefits attributed to peer mediation were real. We had only anecdotal evidence — anecdotes that were compelling, to be sure — but anecdotes nonetheless.… read this issue >>

I recently saw the grass-roots movie phenomenon "Race to Nowhere." The filmmaker, Vicki Abeles, describes it as a "call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens."… read this issue >>