Restorative Practice in Schools Receives a Boost in the UK.
The Youth Justice Board and the Government’s Children’s Fund in the UK are sponsoring new programs to address misbehaviour in schools. The funding is part of a greater emphasis on using restorative justice by the government. Projects will address bullying, truancy, crimes, and other destructive behaviours, in the expectation that use of restorative processes will reduce the number of students expelled from school each year.
In August 2001, the Youth Justice Board funded a Restorative Justice in Schools project in two schools in Hammersmith, Fulham and the London Borough of Lambeth. As of March 2003, the project had held 132 conferences, 70% of which enabled students to continue going to school instead of being excluded. With positive results for both the victims and offenders in these cases, the Youth Justice Board decided to expand Restorative Justice in Schools initiative in February 2003 with youth offending teams in Oxfordshire, Medway, N Lincs, Somerset, Blackpool, Rhonda, and Barnet receiving funding to run restorative conferences in schools.
The UK use of restorative justice is one example to be found around the world. For example, Douglass Elementary School in Boulder, included restorative justice as one tool against bullying in its 2002-2003 School Improvement Plan. In Australia, schools in New South Wales and Queensland are also using restorative processes to respond to discipline issues.
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Resources Used:
Douglass Elementary School. School Improvement Plan for the 2002 to 2003 School System.
New South Wales Education Inquiry: Final Report. Chapter 5
October 2003
