The other day a mother of one of the youth who recently attended the Making Peace class stopped by the Advoz office. She shared how helpful the Making Peace program was for her son who got into a fight at school after being bullied by several other students for a number of weeks. He was referred by a Youth Aid Panel. Unknown to us, two of the boys who had bullied him were also ordered by the District Judge to attend the same class. The instructors for the class said afterward that they felt that there was something amiss among the students, but there were no specific problems with any of these students during the class session.

During the parents’ session led by a different instructor, the parents of these same students discovered this connection and the parents had the opportunity to apologize to each other for what their sons had done at school.

But the clincher of the story happened after the class was over. The mother reported that out in the parking lot, the two students who had bullied her son came to him and apologized, which really meant a lot to him. And since her son is in a different school this year and the boys no longer see each other on a regular basis, they exchanged phone numbers so that they can stay in contact.

A lot can happen when we bring people together to work on their peacemaking skills in a safe environment.

Ken Nissley
Former Case Manager