Peer mediation group at Roosevelt High resolves fights, prevents violence

By Karli Olson

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Fights between students happen at every high school, but not every school has the right tools to resolve those conflicts.

That’s why Multnomah County’s Community Adolescent and Health Program decided to help a peer mediation program at Roosevelt High School in north Portland to give students a safe space to process.

The class, led by Climate Coach Kiera Asay, has produced 27 student mediators- students who notice conflicts among their peers and initiate mediation sessions before they turn into bigger conflicts or violence.

Mae’Lani Aasen, a senior, said she herself has been in an altercation and Ms. Asay’s support alongside the conflict tools she’s learned has helped her move forward in a healthier way.

She now enjoys helping students feel heard and understood in their own conflicts.

“If we hear the situation, we bring them in and ask them permission if they really want to do peer mediation to help solve the problem,” Aasen said.

If they consent, student mediators try to give the conflicting students a safe space to share their side of the story and come down from intense emotions.

“We try our best to just help them with their conflicts or their issues just so it doesn’t lead straight to suspension or expelling,” Senior Ulises Hernandez said.

Roosevelt High is the only school in the district with a peer mediation program like this one, and on Wednesday, students unveiled a brand new mediation space. Multnomah County helped fund the new room through a $15,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s STOP Violence in Schools program.

Dr. Richard Bruno, the Health Officer with the Multnomah County Health Department, said the students at the school have been asking for help on this program for years. The county believes efforts to resolve conflict on a school level could benefit society on the whole.

“We know from some of the literature on violence research that peer level interventions are some of the most powerful ways we can intervene and help prevent future violence,” Bruno said.

Asay said the work the student mediators do is ‘life-saving.’

“Especially when we’re thinking about the ways in which student depression and self-harm impact students in high school, especially since COVID,” she said. “Just watching them show up for each other is really beautiful.”

Under the Portland Public Schools budget cuts announced this week, Asay won’t have her job next year and students fear it may impact the program.

“She is really the only person who cares about this type of work or really wants to do this type of work,” Senior Darrin Bass said.

“For me personally I see her as a parent figure,” Hernandez added.

“It feels like a lot of grief and a lot of weight and it comes with a lot of goodbyes that I don’t know if I’m ready for yet,” Asay said, fighting back tears.

Students say they’ll try to keep the program going for the future of their school.

“I want this program to keep going because it built the community in this school,” said Sha’Niya Denson, a junior. “I hope it still goes and we can make a difference.”

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