By Eli Plenk | Program Manager
Dear Donor,
Imagine a soft-spoken young girl with no history of negative behavior in school, who had never harmed or hurt anyone, being taken out of school one day in handcuffs by the police. The cause? She had lost control of her emotions and been yelling at those around her for no clear reason. This is the type of incident that OurRJ deals with on a regular basis.
In this case, given her total lack of any prior misbehavior, this young woman, let’s call her Maria Elena, was referred to OurRJ. She participated in the OurRJ process, choosing her grandmother, father, and the school dean as Circle participants. During pre-Circle prep, OurRJ’s program manager asked if something was bothering her that she needed to express. She said it was the third anniversary of her mother’s suicide. This young woman at the age of 13, found her mother dead in the bathtub.
Once Maria Elena was able to share her pain in Circle, have it acknowledged, it provided a starting point for healing. What also came out of the Circle process was the acknowledgment that no one at the school had taken the time to talk with her, to listen and find out what had precipitated such an outcry. A reparative agreement was developed that if Maria Elena were to feel this way again, she would immediately ask to see the counselor or social worker at school. It also included meeting with the counselor once a week for help with this and any other related issues, and the school agreed to make these forms of assistance possible. She also wanted to apologize to her teacher, which was written into the agreement and signed by all parties.
Thanks to your support, more young people like Maria Elena are still in school. Without the possibility of the restorative justice alternative approach, Maria Elena and so many others would end up in the juvenile justice systems with a criminal record for life.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Our Restorative Justice
P.S. We will have exciting developments in the coming year! If you want to continue supporting restorative justice programming, keep a look out for our announcement about a new initiative to be piloted in 2018!
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