Peace circles resolve conflict, get kids back to learning in Cedar Rapids schools

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kids who get in to disagreements at Wilson Middle School can problem solve together with the help of a “peace circle.” They sit down with an adult to talk about the conflict, how it made each person feel, who was affected and harmed by the actions and create a solution.

These circles can help students regulate their emotions, avoid fights — verbal or physical — and get back to learning, said Judy Goldberg, a peace facilitator at Wilson Middle School.

Goldberg is an employee of Kids First Law Center, based in Cedar Rapids, which serves more than 2,500 children each year in Linn and Johnson counties through programs that include mitigating the negative effects of divorce and custody conflicts on children. The Cedar Rapids Community School District contracts Kids First to have seven peace facilitators at 11 schools through a program called the Youth Peace Project.

Peace circles — which are based on Indigenous practices — must be requested and all parties involved must agree to participate before the circle can happen, Goldberg said.

Goldberg uses a “talking piece” in her circles, so only one person is speaking at a time. She asks each person how they’re feeling and how they are going to treat each other. Students give responses such as, “I’m going to be respectful, I’m going to listen and I’m not going to interrupt,” Goldberg said.

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Goldberg then leads the students in a discussion about what happened and asks how they can make things right with each other.

“Often, both kids did a little harm and experienced a little harm,” Goldberg said. “That’s when you can see kids realize the impact of their actions. Their brains are still forming, and they don’t always think outside of themselves.”

Data collected by Kids First shows that students who participate in circles have a reduced suspension rate of 52 percent, said Jenny Schulz, executive director and founder of Kids First Law Center.

During the 2021-22 school year, Kids First served 2,054 students through the Youth Peace Project, Schulz said. There were 1,644 circles conducted between students and 236 circles conducted between a student and their teacher. Ninety-nine percent of these circles were resolved with an agreement and students improved their social-emotional skills, she said.

One circle Goldberg led involved sixth grade boys repeatedly pulling a girl’s hair. Goldberg said while they boys were “being silly” and not doing it to be malicious, it hurt the girl’s feelings.

“They talked about how they used to be good friends, and the girl taught the boys how to draw,” Goldberg said. “When I asked her what the hardest part was she told the boys, ‘You don’t know this, but I go home and cry every night.’”

The boys ended up apologizing and understanding the impact of their actions, Goldberg said. They even went on to apologize to another girl whose hair they had been pulling. “They wanted to make things right,” she said.

Circles don’t always end with students becoming fast friends, Goldberg said. Sometimes, the agreement is to keep their distance from each other.

“It’s not a magic pill,” Goldberg said. “It may not resolve everything forever. Maybe a month later you’ll have a dispute again, but students are learning social-emotional skills.”

Goldberg conducts around four to five circles a day. Each circle can take between 20 minutes to an hour.

Circles can also be done between students and teachers, and Goldberg said she has also seen a change in the staff since she started at Wilson two years ago. Instead of reacting to a situation, they try to take time to understand how a student is feeling and why.

“I’ve seen teachers really soften in a circle,” said Nicole Brighton, peace facilitator at Hoover Community School and Johnson STEAM Academy. “They might come in hesitant or nervous, but as they talk through the problem, I can see their body soften and their words and tone soften. It’s really a beautiful moment when you get to witness it.”

Goldberg said during a recent circle between a band teacher and a student who was “acting up in class,” the student ended up explaining to the teacher that the instrument he was playing was too hard for him. He switched to a different instrument and was excited about class again, Goldberg said.

“When I do a teacher-kid circle, I start out by asking the teacher to tell me something cool about the kid,” Goldberg said. “I did one with a sixth-grader who was talking a lot during class. She thought the teacher hated her. The teacher said, ‘You make my day when you walk in to the room. I love your energy. You just can’t talk when I’m giving instruction. don’t mistake that for me disliking you.’”

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Matthew Jenkins, Wilson Middle School assistant principal, said circles between students and staff give everyone the chance to “listen without judgment, be curious and have a thoughtful resolution.”

Jenkins said students are reaching out to their peace facilitator more often as a proactive way to resolve conflict. The number of students being suspended from school has decreased, which Jenkins said he directly attributes to the circles, describing them as a “solution” to conflict.

“It’s a skill we’re trying to teach,” Jenkins said. “Do circles always work? Not all the time, but exposure to the process has helped a lot of our students."

Justin Blietz, principal at Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy, said students are learning how to communicate effectively and problem solve. “This program really supports those skills and gives students the space and opportunity to learn how to communicate in ways that can help get their needs met and problem solve together,” he said.

Roosevelt’s peace facilitator, John Blackcloud, is an “unbiased party” in conflicts, Blietz said. Peace facilitators are “there to listen and not take sides, not say whose right or wrong, but to create a space and opportunity to facilitate dialogue and help you problem solve together,” he said.

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