Community Corner

Community Peer Mediation Program Offered in Durham and Middlefield

The Durham/Middlefield Youth and Family Services is proud to announce the Community Peer Mediation program through a grant awarded by the Community Foundation of Middlesex County/Herb and Ellen Patterson Memorial Fund and the Griffin Family Fund, available to all local students, siblings, friends and peers affording them an opportunity to participate in an alternative form of resolving conflict through peer mediation.

What is peer mediation?
Peer mediating is a problem-solving technique and one form of conflict resolution.  Ten students in our community, ranging from seventh to eleventh grade, have been trained to mediate the conflicts of other students, siblings, friends and peers.  Mediation is voluntary and focuses on solutions, not on judging or blaming. Typical examples appropriate for peer mediation are single event or ongoing disputes, physical confrontations, teasing, put downs, misunderstandings and more. 

The goal is for youth who are in a dispute to come up with win/win solutions. In each session there are two trained peer mediators that help the participants identify the conflict and the issues and the feelings associated with it, promote dialog and understanding of each other’s point of view, and brainstorm solutions.  The mediators are only there to help facilitate the process, not solve the problem for them. Once the participants have agreed on a solution(s) an agreement form is filled out and signed by the mediators and the participants.  

Peer mediation is proven to be effective among youth as it allows participants to derive their own solutions, strengthen relationships and is empowering for all involved. The peer mediators participating in this program are trained and the service is confidential and free. Each appointment usually last less than one hour and are held in a private room at the Durham Public Library between 10-1 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month and between 2-5 p.m. on the third Friday of every month or by special appointment.

For those interested in using this exciting new program to resolve conflict with another student, a friend, sibling or peer, call Claudia White at 860-301-8215 or Betsy Dean at 860-349-0258. An informational sheet/consent form is also available upon request.


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