San Marcos students trained to keep the peace

By: NOELLE IBRAHIM - Staff Writer
Program teaches conflict resolution, responsibility | Tuesday, February 5, 2008 12:15 AM PST ∞

SAN MARCOS -- When students at Carrillo Elementary don purple vests inscribed with yellow peace signs on the back, they're making a commitment to being a part of the solution.

"We make our school's playground a littler safer every day," said fifth-grader R.J. Mahoney, a member of Carrillo's Peace Patrol, a team of 75 students who help resolve conflicts between their peers during lunch and focus on community service throughout the day.

The Chula Vista-based program was created in 1989 by Eden Steele, executive director of Interactions for Peace. The nonprofit organization teaches students how to establish a nonviolent community by creating solutions, considering consequences and making positive decisions.

Principal Fred Wise said he attributes the feeling of safety and security on campus directly to the Peace Patrol, in addition to well-trained campus supervisors.

"The first line of defense is the Peace Patrol," he said. "They have this really big job, which is to keep the peace on campus."

Fourth- and fifth-graders chosen for Peace Patrol receive six hours of training during the summer, said Kristine Mehler, a Peace Patrol coordinator for the past three years.

Mehler said that during training, students participate in team-building activities, practice active listening and learn the five elements of the program -- self-esteem, cooperation, communication, conflict resolution and community-building. Members also role-play conflict scenarios and walk through steps for successfully dealing with disputes.

The members are not there to solve their peers' problems, but rather to help them solve disputes, Mehler said.

Members do what they can to solve disputes, stop students from "ditching" their friends, break up cliques to allow more intermingling between students and dispel rumors or gossip, she said.

On Monday, students received a refresher on how to deal with bullies.

"Kids today don't really understand what bullying is," Mehler said. "In the old days it was physical -- stealing lunch money, pushing, fighting. Now it's threatening, gossiping, exclusion."

But instead of just focusing on problems, this year members were encouraged to catch other students being good, fifth-grader Austin Majors said.

"We're not really looking for problems," he said, adding that members identify students who have the "wow factor" for behavior and reward them with silver coins they can cash in for ice cream. "It's not like kids are scared of you -- they actually look up to you."

Mehler said while Peace Patrol is designed to teach students how to prevent school violence, the program is really meant for developing strong citizenship in its members.

"It's a program that teaches them lifelong skills," she said. "From there,, they teach others and it spreads."

Fifth-grader Mason Foster said Peace Patrol has taught her to be more responsible, especially with her schoolwork. Her goal in joining the program was to help as many peers as possible.

"By the end of the day, you know you've done something right," Mason said. "It's a really good feeling."

But there's more to Carrillo's version of the program than having extra sets of eyes supervising the playground during lunch, said Mehler.

Students also have the option to do other "jobs" on campus, including mentoring first-graders in reading, stamping running cards for the running club during recess, helping out in kindergarten classes and study hall and announcing the schoolwide "Word of the Week" over the loudspeaker on Mondays.

During lunch, some students are in charge of "tricky equipment," defined as toys and board games such as chess and checkers. The goal is to look for kids who seem bored or lonely and play with them, fourth-grader Stephanie Gorzynski said.

"It helps them make new friends," she said.

Members also sponsor "Mix-It-Up" days three times a year, in which students are encouraged to meet and sit with someone new during lunch, Mehler said.

"It cuts down boundaries kids have around each other, so when they get to middle school, they know they have a choice on whether to be a part of the cliquey stuff," she said.

-- Contact staff writer Noelle Ibrahim at (760) 740-3517 or nibrahim@nctimes.com.

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