Are We Doing It Right?
“My own experience has shown me that a lot of the things that we do that are supposed to be restorative have the potential to cause more harm than healing.”
The first time I actually participated in a real restorative circle was in the summer of 2023. It involved a participant who had stolen something with his friend. He was very quiet; you could tell he was very nervous. Me and my Co-Facilitator went through the procedure we had planned, which involved four steps: The introduction, The Ice Breaker, The Storytelling Round, and The Closing Out.
I had practiced all year perfecting how to actually lead a circle. We went through each of the steps and I felt like I was able to help change someone’s life. This person would have a criminal charge on his record, but he was able to lean in and participate in something like this. He was actually able to learn and take accountability for his part. And, lastly and very importantly, he was able to be vulnerable to strangers. What might be surprising to you is that this Circle didn’t happen at Comp Sci High.
There have been multiple internships that I've participated in, but there is one internship I worked with that always makes me want to go back. Youth Impact is a youth leadership program that offers a restorative approach to issues that young people face. They use restorative justice to examine the harmful impact of a crime and then to determine what can be done to repair that harm while holding the person who caused it accountable for his or her actions. This method originates from an Indigenous tribe, which we were always reminded of. Each circle began with a land acknowledgment to recognize that tribe and the fact that they once lived on the same land we were now on.
Comp Sci High is a new developing community that is using more real life experiences to help students better human beings. The school is also young and very much student led which makes the community feel equal because more student input is being heard and acknowledged. And the culture team is there to enhance the student life. And this is the reason why I interviewed them because they work with the students the most. Yes teachers work with students, but I think that the Culture team is more involved with the structures we use with the students.
Things that I started off with was the beautiful culture team at Comp Sci High: Director Gonzalez, Mr. Mosley, and Mr. Smartt. They all work together to hold students accountable when it comes to uniform, behavioral situations, attendance, and more. I interviewed them because when situations happen in the school, the members of this team are the first people to the scene.
I started off with Mosley. Mr. Mosley has been with the school since it was founded. He bought up how he wanted balance between the students and the staff. That stood out to me because I loved that, when starting this school with Executive Director Noah, he thought about all the aspects. Comp Sci High was founded in 2018 and is still learning the ropes. Mr. Mosley is very passionate about his work in this community. He feels that the restorative justice method that is used at Comp Sci High is more effective than the other schools that he has visited and seen.
Director Gonzalez was not here when the school was founded but she has been here for a while. She is the Director of Culture, and she is responsible for building and maintaining systems to make sure there is a joyful and achievement-oriented culture.
When the school was founded there were only 25 staff; now, the school currently has about 70 people. When I interviewed her, she talked a lot about how check-in’s can be improved. Teachers put students down for check-ins and do not really want to lean in and explain or talk about what happened. This is because teachers may “still feel the harm” and aren’t ready to make a check in a productive learning experience. Then, the check in becomes “a punishment.” She brought up how adults can let their feelings get in the way all the time, including her. This can lead to both parties feeling like this was a waste of time. Or the teachers will put so many students down that they will not be able to actually have that one on one with the student, which will lead to both parties not being able to get on the same page. She would give us a 2 on a scale of 0 to 5 when it comes to how we practice restorative justice, and she thinks we have the “vision right” but not all of the steps done perfectly.
Mr. Smartt joined Comp Sci High in 2021, and his role is Assistant Director of School Culture. When I interviewed him, he spoke about the differences between this school and his old school. His old school tried to use the “restorative method” by sending students to a room and having students just wait for the teacher, but that didn’t work at all and felt useless. Comparing his old school that he used to work at to here, Smartt noticed a huge difference. He feels the restorative method that is used at Comp Sci High is actually effective. It is not perfect, but it's better than sending students to a room and having them sit in it for a long period of time.
I enjoyed interviewing all three of them because I was able to see how our entire Culture Team thought about restorative justice from their own lens. They all work together but think differently because of their own beliefs and experiences. I think that the work that these individuals is great, but it is not perfect.
My own experience has shown me that a lot of the things that we do that are supposed to be restorative have the potential to cause more harm than healing. I think in a lot of instances there are moments where the school has put students in actual uncomfortable situations. The point of restorative justice is to fix the issues that happen in a better way and somehow it seems like it just causes more problems. It has been my experience that many circles at Comp Sci High have never fully finished; they have been unresolved. At Youth Impact, we were not supposed to leave the circle until the situation was resolved. This could take up to 30 minutes or even an hour. At Comp Sci High, sometimes a student isn't able to resolve the situation until the next week or next month when the situation has already died out.
At Comp Sci High, there is no consistent structure and there is not enough time. A restorative circle should not take up the whole day, but it should at least be two periods. Having two-part circles does not work unless we stay consistent and obviously we have not been able to do that. The Culture Team has not been able to realize there are small flaws that are wrong with the way we do our circles and the check-ins. Teachers are not to lean in and have time to understand students at an emotional level.
In conclusion, I think that we need to accept accountability for the way we have experienced this. We do not practice restorative justice in the best way. We might think that we are performing well but are thinking about the ways we don’t quickly address the elephant in the room? Do we think about how teachers are putting so many kids for check-ins and are not able to check in with them about each specific situation? I think that we need to always try out new things but we also have to learn from those mistakes when they do not work. But when we keep using something that doesn't work, that becomes a bigger problem because we are not fixing the issue.