November 20, 2023 – WPDI’s Domestic Harmonizer Program (DHP) in the greater Los Angeles area, California, United States, serves as a beacon of hope for local schools, embodying our commitment to fostering a culture of peace at the grassroots level. This initiative focuses on preventing and resolving interpersonal conflicts at school, recognizing the pivotal role harmonious relationships play in community wellbeing and the mental wellbeing of students. When students are in safe learning environments and are emotionally connected, they can better focus on academic requirements while preparing for their responsibilities as future citizens. In many schools and communities, violence, bullying, and other tensions among students occur on a daily basis, which impacts students’ academic learning, personal growth, and sense of emotional as well as social safety. According to the CDC, about 1 in 5 children has reported being bullied on school property in the US. This is a significant concern in the United States, and our program is part of a wider national effort to address and prevent bullying.
The DHP is a program for the whole school community. Teachers are trained to infuse principles and values of nonviolent communication into their daily teaching practice. It aims to train students to serve as mediators, educators, and catalysts for positive change, working to instill essential conflict resolution skills within communities. Sessions are also organized to sensitize parents, guardians and other adults on the basic values and concepts of the program so that they too can contribute to create safe spaces both in school and in the surrounding community. Through workshops and community engagement, the program aims to create resilient and connected communities founded on understanding, empathy, and cooperation, with programs for peer mediation, improved communications, problem solving, and interactive learning. Students and teachers alike learn to sustain the program and uphold an environment of peace and cooperation.
In this context, and in partnership with the Los Angeles County Office of Education (the nation’s largest regional education agency)– the DHP delivered a 2-day train-the-trainers program to 18 educators (mostly school counselors) from across Los Angeles County at the end of September.
The purpose of the workshop was to train the participants on the peer mediation process, provide them with tools and guidance for them to establish peer mediation programs at their respective schools, and also provide them with the framework and resources that they would need to recruit and train students as peer mediators at their school sites.
The scaling potential of this opportunity is large. We will be keeping in touch with these educators throughout the school year to provide them technical assistance and support. Due to the success of this program, It has already been decided to organize another training session with LACOE in early 2024.
“We are so grateful to all the educators that joined us from across LA County. They are officially peer mediation trainers! Wow! These school counselors, school social workers, and teachers gathered and created an instant restorative community. We are looking forward to following the journey you will embark on bringing this great work back to your schools and students. Thank you WPDI for this amazing partnership you have created with LACOE,” said Anna Heinbuch, Coordinator II – School Counseling, Student Support Services Division, Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE).
In parallel, from August to October, our DHP program trained 245 students from across 8 schools of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Some of these were new schools in our roster, William Orr Elementary School, Jersey Elementary School, and Lakeland Elementary School, which are a part of the Little Lake City School District. We also trained 24 high school students from Cypress High School, a newer partnership, in the peer mediation process.
Karen DeVoogd, our WPDI Conflict Resolution Education Trainer, said after the program that “the growth of these young learners was dramatic. Watching them start from a blank canvas with the process on the first day, and then see them able to take on the complexity of peer mediation with finesse on the last day, was so rewarding. They restated conflict stories, leaving out escalating language and guide disputants to figure out how to meet each others’ needs in the solution. It is quite remarkable to see obvious progress in such a short span of time. Their positive energy and optimism for peaceful outcomes is contagious!”
Karen’s excitement is shared across WPDI, notably because this is the first time our DHP team has trained such a large number of students from across different schools spanning 3 months of training. It is also the first time we trained so many students from different age ranges, from elementary to high school. This expansion bodes well for the future of the program as a recognized platform for empowering children and teenagers as drivers of peace in their school environment.
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